Valpelline (valley)

The Valpelline branches from the Great St Bernard Valley near Gignod and rises to the Collon Pass, which it shares with Valais, and which is located at the foot of the Grand Combin, whose peak is across the border in Switzerland.

The main stream of the Valpelline is Buthier, which is fed by melt-waters of the Tsa de Tsan and Grandes Murailles glaciers.

However the principal passes are as follows: The Valpelline is known locally in Valdôtain patois as the Coumba frèida (or Fr., Combe froide, literally the cold hollow) due to its particularly harsh climate.

In the Middle Ages the valley was a possession of the lords of Quart, which they granted to the noble family of the district known as La Tour-de-Valpelline (or La-Tour-des-Prés).

In 1612 it was assigned to the Perrone di San Martino, a Piedmontese noble family involved in the exploitation of the mine at Ollomont.