Monte Tobbio (in Ligurian ''Monte Tuggiu'') is a 1092 metres high mountain of the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

, located in the

Italian region The regions of Italy () are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which are autonomous regions with special status. Under the Con ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Geography

The mountain stands on the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

side of the

drainage 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 ...

defined by the

Ligurian Apennine The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

. It's the main summit of the ridge which, starting from

Monte delle Figne Monte delle Figne (Figne Mountain) is a mountain in Liguria, northern Italy, part of the Ligurian Apennines. It lies at an altitude of 1172 metres. Geography The mountain is located in the provinces of province of Genoa, Genoa and province ...

, goes North dividing Gorzente and

Lemme The Lemme is a river 35 km torrent, a right tributary of the Orba, which flows through the Province of Alessandria in northern Italy. Geography Its source is near Monte Calvo; from there it passes through the communes of Fraconalto, V ...

valleys. Administratively mount Tobbio belongs to the municipality of

Bosio Bosio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria. Bosio borders the following municipalities: Campo Ligure, Campomorone, ...

(

province of Alessandria The province of Alessandria (; ; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian Provinces of Italy, province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part of the region of Piedmont. The prov ...

). Due to its prominent location Monte Tobbio is very easily recognisable from large areas both of the

and

Po plain The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic extension not actually related t ...

Environment

Monte Tobbio slopes are generally rocky and almost barren due to the poor soil formed by its

peridotite Peridotite ( ) is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock consisting mostly of the silicate minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium (Mg2+), reflecting the high pr ...

s bedrock. Since 1979 the mountain belongs to the Capanne di Marcarolo regional natural park. The mountain and its surrounding area are also 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 "Capanne di Marcarolo" (code: IT1180026).

History

On the summit stands a little church dedicated to

Our Lady of Caravaggio Our Lady of the Fountain in Caravaggio (Italian: ''La Madonna del Fonte di Caravaggio'') is a purported Marian apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Caravaggio, Lombardy, Italy in 26 May 1432. The famed shrine is piously known for the purpor ...

. It was built in 1892 and rebuilt after severe damages occurred during the

world War II 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 ...

. In 1944's spring a group of

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 ...

were surrounded by

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 ...

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 ...

troops on mount Tobbio. After a fight some of them managed to break the

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

while some others, after being captured, were transported near the Benedicta Abbey and executed by firing squads on April the 7th 1944.

Access to the summit

Monte Tobbio can be reached by signposted footpaths departing from Voltaggio or

. It can also be accessed by a longer path from

, while the shortest way to climb the mountain from an asphalted road starts from the "Valico degli Eremiti" ("Hermites' pass", m.559) and takes around 1.30 hours walk. Climbing Monte Tobbio is one of the most popular hikes of SE Piedmont and

province of Genoa The province of Genoa () was a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Genoa. It was replaced by Metropolitan City of Genoa. Overview It has an area of and a total population of about 0.9 million (2009). There are ...

and in clean days offers an impressive panorama ranging from the Ligurian Sea to a large stretch of the Italian Alps. Some branches of the

Club Alpino Italiano The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian alpine club which stages climbing competitions, operates alpine huts, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine environment. It was founded in Turin in 1863 by the then fin ...

(C.A.I.) organize every year night hikes to the mountain, as for instance the local C.A.I. group of

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, northwestern Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po River, Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montfe ...

Mountain huts

* Maria Santissima di Caravaggio: on the top of the mountain, a room contiguous to the small church can be used as an emergence hut. * Rifugio Escursionistico Nido Del Biancone, owned by the park and located in ''Frazione Capanne di Marcarolo'' (

References

External links

* ''Da Voltaggio al monte Tobbio'', hike description o
www.regione.piemonte.it
(in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

) * ''Appennino piemontese'', on-line guidebook of the Regione Piemonte, available for free in .pdf o
www.regione.piemonte.it
(in

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobbio, Monte Mountains of the Apennines Mountains of Piedmont One-thousanders of Italy