Monte Settepani is 1,386 metres high mountain in

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, part of the

Ligurian Prealps The Ligurian Prealps (in Italian ''Prealpi Liguri'' or ''Alpi Liguri Orientali'', in French ''Préalpes liguriennes'') are a mountain range in northwestern Italy. They belong to the Ligurian Alps and are located between the regions of Italy, regi ...

Geography

The mountain is located on the

main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest p ...

and its summit stands very close the

water divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single ...

between

Ligurian Sea The Ligurian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera ( Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient Ligures people. Geography The sea borders Italy as far as ...

and

River Po The Po ( , ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy, starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is , or if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. The headwaters of the Po are formed by a spring ...

basins, on the river Po side. Going South the

Colle del Melogno Colle del Melogno (1028 m) is a mountain pass in the Province of Savona in Italy. It is located on the main chain of the Alps and connects Ceva and Calizzano with Magliolo and Finale Ligure, on the coast of Ligurian Sea. Hiking The pas ...

(1,028 m) divides it from Bric Agnellino.''Carta turistica ed escursionistica - Provincia di Savona'' in scala 1:50.000; ed. Provincia di Savona On the summit stand some military facilities and a

weather radar A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...

. The mountain is shared between the territories of five

comuni A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

Osiglia Osiglia ( Ligurian and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about west of Savona. Osiglia borders the following municipalities: Bormida, Calizzano, Millesimo ...

, Bormida,

Calizzano Calizzano ( or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Savona. Calizzano borders the following municipalities: Bagnasco, Bardineto, Bormida, ...

, Magliolo and

Rialto The Rialto is a central area of Venice, Italy, in the ''sestiere'' of San Polo. It is, and has been for many centuries, the financial and commercial heart of the city. Rialto is known for its prominent markets as well as for the monumental Ria ...

SOIUSA classification

According to the

SOIUSA Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was designed by Sergio Maraz ...

(''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') the mountain can be classified in the following way: * main part =

Western Alps The Western Alps are the western part of the Alps, Alpine Range including the southeastern part of France (e.g. Savoie), the whole of Monaco, the northwestern part of Italy (i.e. Piedmont and the Aosta Valley) and the southwestern part of Switzer ...

* major sector = South Western Alps * section =

Ligurian Alps The Ligurian Alps are a mountain range in northwestern Italy. A small part is located in France. They form the south-western extremity of the Alps, separated from the Apennine Mountains, Apennines by the Colle di Cadibona. The Col de Tende and the ...

* subsection = Prealpi Liguri * supergroup = Catena Settepani-Carmo-Armetta * group = Gruppo del Monte Settepani * subgroup = Costiera del Monte Settepani *

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

= I/A-1.I-A.1.b

History

The area of monte Settepani was involved, as well as other neighbouring mountains, in the Italian campaigns of

Napoleone Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. During the

II World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

around the Settepani occurred other fights, this time between

Italian partisans The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

and

nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

troops. Monte Settepani could have hosted an underground

united States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

military base, a facility which, according to some sources, could have been also used by the Gladio Organization.

Access to the summit

The summit of Monte Settepani is reached by a small asphalted road, closed to the general public and built in order to connect the military base on the mountain with the

national road. The summit can also be reached on foot by some footpath from various starting points as, for instance, the Colla Baltera.

Nature conservation

The mountain and its surrounding area are part of a SIC ''(

Site of Community Importance A Site of Community Importance (SCI) is defined in the European Commission Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) as a site which, in the biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to the maintenance or restoration at ...

)'' called ''M.Carmo - M.Settepani'' (code: IT1323112).Bollettino Ufficiale Regione Liguria nr.13 of 15-7-2009; the Ligurian SIC list is on-line a
lrv.regione.liguria.it
(access: July 2015)

Maps

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Settepani Mountains of the Ligurian Alps Mountains of Liguria One-thousanders of Italy Natura 2000 in Italy