When we talk about Val Formazza it is automatic to think of one of the most famous attractions and visited by the Toce Waterfall, a place that is absolutely worth visiting to bring with you the memory of a magnificent experience.
The Toce Waterfall, also known as La Frua, is located in the municipality of Formazza, in the hamlet of Frua, in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piedmont, and is considered one of the most scenic symbols of the Val Formazza and the Alps.
Located at a height of 1675 m, a stone’s throws from the Swiss border, the Toce Waterfall makes a jump of 143 m, is one of the highest waterfalls in Europe and offers an enchanting spectacle to admire.
On the top a fantastic vantage point is the wooden balcony stretched above the water jump. On the top, stands the famous hotel built in 1923 and designed in Decò style by the architect Piero Portaluppi, one of the greatest exponents of the architectural style.
The Toce Waterfall is born from the Toce river, the main waterway of the Val d’Ossola, which is formed in the Riale plain from the confluence of the Hosand, Gries and Rhoni streams, gives life to Lake Morasco, an artificial basin located upstream of the waterfall, at 1815 m high. The waters of this lake, whose dam was built in 1930 by the Edison company, are used for the operation of the Ponte hydroelectric power plant and, for this reason, the waterfall is not visible all year round, but only in the period from June to September and only in a few hours of the day.
A river, the Toce that in the past was called Tuxa, a name that could be linked to the barbarian invasions, that is, Athisone, as mentioned by Plutarch. We are in an area where once stood a Walser village, born as a high altitude summer pasture.
The history of the waterfall goes hand in hand with that of mountaineering. Already in 1777 a passionate Horace-Bénédict De Saussure, considered the founder of mountaineering, tracing the way that was followed by the Reverend and Mountaineer Coolidge, the Helvetic Studer, then again by the legend of mountaineering Cust and Riccardo Gerla called “The Apostle of Ossola”. The flood of the waterfall takes place at very specific times.
To stay up to date on the opening of the Toce Waterfall returns to visit the site, constantly updated.
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