Extreme northern offshoot of Piedmont, wedned between the Swiss cantons of Valais to the west and Ticino to the east, Val Formazza is a small alpine jewel of the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, north of Lake Maggiore. The valley, a natural continuation of the Antigorio Valley, which begins north of Domodossola, is wide and verdant, with a typical glacial profile, covered entirely by the Toce river, which in the terminal portion forms the famous waterfalls of the Toce, a jump of 143 meters.
Along the valley floor and its side slopes, especially the western one, there are large spaces where in summer hikers and mountaineers can find a myriad of different possibilities, also facilitated by the numerous and welcoming refuges: from the simple walks between the different hamlets of the municipality of Formazza, to more challenging trekking at high altitudes between large mountains and alpine meadows, from equipped cliffs and convenient access, up to itineraries on the glaciers of the highest peaks. And in winter, when a white mantle covers everything – here the snow is always abundant –, in addition to the long cross-country rings and the small area for alpine skiing, you can walk with the snowshoes at the foot along itineraries of every length and difficulty, but it is perhaps the ski mountaineering that in Val Formazza gives the most intense emotions, with paths really suitable for everyone, for those who approach this discipline, as for the collections.
One of the peculiarities of Val Formazza is certainly the Walser culture, which still permeates the lives of its inhabitants and the management of the territory, as well as toponymy and architecture. It is assumed that in ancient times the area was inhabited by the Leponzi, a population apparently of proto-Celtic origin, subdued later by the Romans, which left evident traces of roads in the valleys of the Arbola and the Gries, used for commercial exchanges with Switzerland. Subsequently, the area came under the control of the bishop of Novara and the Valvassori De Rodis, then of the Duchy of Milan, finally following the events of the whole Ossola (except for some Swiss raids), which see an alternation of dominations, more or less bloody, by Spaniards, Austrians, Piedmontese and French, up to the definitive annexation to the Kingdom of Italy. But all this influenced very little on daily life in the high mountains, where the Antigorio Valley, overcome the steep barrier of the Casse, becomes Val Formazza, Alpine territories then almost uninhabited and used only as summer pastures. Here, between 1200 and 1300, for reasons still debated by historians come some groups of settlers from the Goms, in the upper Swiss Valais, which crossing the Gries Pass settle – with the approval of the De Rodis first and then the Duchy of Milan, which obtain undoubted advantages in terms of tribute – in the highest portion of the valley, giving rise to small villages dedicated to cultivation and above all to the breeding. For centuries the Walser people (from Walliser, inhabitant of Valais) have lived almost undisturbed in these places, without coming into contact with the neighboring populations except for the commercial needs, thus maintaining a cultural autonomy that has been perpetrated from generation to generation. The Alps and woods were and still are governed with a community order, and even justice, within certain limits (the arbitration of the major crimes belonged to the lord), was managed by the community itself with its own court. The Walser culture is also clearly identifiable in construction and language. The Walser houses, many still visible in Val Formazza, are recognizable by the stone base, above which rests the main body completely in wood, a material that was almost not used for homes in the Alps. But it is perhaps the language that is the most distinctive feature of this ancient and proud people: the Walser dialect, a mixture of ancient German and subalpine dialects, can be found in many place names in the municipality of Formazza (which in the walser language becomes Pomatt), even if unfortunately now only some old people still know how to speak it. Here then the signs at the entrance of the different hamlets still show the double name: Foppiano/Unrumschtald, Fondovalle/Schtafuwald, Chiesa/In d?r Mattu, San Michele/Tuffald, Valdo/Wald, Ponte/Zum Scht?g, Brendo/In d?ndudu, Grovella/Gurf?lu, Canza/Fr?duwald. A culture, that of the Walser, which affects other territories of the Alps, from Valsesia to some areas of the Canton of Ticino, and which fortunately sees a renewed interest thanks to which we try to keep alive the traditions and language of this people of the Alps.
Basodino, Punta d’Arbola, Punta del Sabbione, Blinnenhorn: these are just some of the Three thousand that surround the Val Formazza, at the feet of which wind through paths rich in history, as along the passes of the Gries or San Giacomo, and paths among eternal ice – even if in constant retreat –, mountaineers where the precious Bettelmatt cheese is produced, abandoned Walser villages and large artificial basins.. An experience to be lived at a slow pace, letting the eyes fill with the green of the meadows, the white ice and the snow, and the blue of the sky and the lakes.
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