Savoy is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Valley in the east.
Haute-Savoie is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva; to the south and southeast are Mont Blanc and the Aravis mountain range.
Raclette is a dish of Swiss origin, also popular in the other Alpine countries, based on heating cheese and scraping off the melted part, then typically served with boiled potatoes. Raclette cheese is historically a dish originating from the canton of Valais in Switzerland. This cheese from Valais benefits from an AOP. Raclette cheese is also a Swiss-type cheese marketed specifically to be used for this dish.
Valais, more formally, the Canton of Valais, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion.
Franco-Provençal is a language within the Gallo-Romance family, originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy.
Sion is a Swiss town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Valais and of the district of Sion. As of December 2020 it had a population of 34,978.
Aigle is a historic town and a municipality and the capital of the district of Aigle in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
Martigny is the capital city of the district of Martigny, canton of Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of 471 meters (1,545 ft), and its population is approximately 20,000 inhabitants. It is a junction of roads joining Italy, France and Switzerland. One road links it over the Great St. Bernard Pass to Aosta (Italy), and the other over the col de la Forclaz to Chamonix (France). In winter, Martigny is known for its numerous nearby Alp ski resorts such as Verbier.
The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser people are named after the Wallis (Valais), the uppermost Rhône valley, where they settled from roughly the 10th century in the late phase of the migration of the Alamanni, crossing from the Bernese Oberland; because of linguistic differences among the Walser dialects, it is supposed that there were two independent immigration routes.
The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. The Hohenstaufen emperors had granted these valleys reichsfrei status in the early 13th century. As reichsfrei regions, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords and thus were largely autonomous.
Châtel is a commune on the Swiss border in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,246. Situated in the northern part of the French Alps, Châtel is part of the French-Swiss ski domain known as Portes du Soleil. Despite its development into a major ski resort, the village still retains many of its traditional alpine characteristics.
Leukerbad is a municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
The Val d'Anniviers is a Swiss Alpine valley, situated in the district of Sierre in Valais, which extends south of the Rhône Valley, on the northern slopes of the Pennine Alps. The valley was home to six municipalities: Ayer, Chandolin, Grimentz, Saint-Jean, Saint-Luc and Vissoie. The citizens of those municipalities agreed on November 26, 2006, to merge into one, which was named Anniviers. The merger took place in January 2009.
Arpitania is a term which denotes the purported ethnic or cultural unity of the Western Alps, represented by speakers of Franco-Provençal.
Thyon is a purpose-built ski resort in the Swiss Alps, located in the canton of Valais. The resort is situated in the central part of the canton, in the region of Sion, and is associated with the village of Les Collons. It forms part of the "4 Valleys" interlinked ski area, which together includes Thyon, Veysonnaz, Haute-Nendaz, Verbier and La Tzoumaz. The ski pistes from Thyon and Veysonnaz effectively constitute a large, single integrated ski area, and connect with the rest of the "4 Valleys" area.
The France–Italy border is 515 km long. It runs from the Alps in the north, a region in which it passes over Mont Blanc, down to the Mediterranean coast in the south. Three national parks are located along the border: Vanoise National Park and Mercantour National Park on the French side and Gran Paradiso National Park on the Italian side.
The Battle of the Queens is an annual Cow fighting tournament that takes place in the Aosta Valley.
The Valdostana Castana is an Italian breed of cattle from Valle d'Aosta region in north-western Italy. It is one of three regional breeds in the area, the others being the Valdostana Pezzata Nera and the Valdostana Pezzata Rossa. The Valdostana Castana ranges in colour from chestnut-brown to black. It derives from cross-breeding of imported Hérens stock with the local Pezzata Nera (black-pied) cattle. While the Valdostana Castana is raised both for meat and for milk, its principal characteristic is its ability in the Bataille de Reines, the annual cow-fighting contests held in the region. Partly due to its combative nature, it is not suited to intensive farming, and management is normally transhumant: the cattle are stabled only in winter, and spend the summer months on the mountain pastures of the Alps.
The Valdostana Pezzata Nera is an Italian breed of cattle from Valle d'Aosta region in north-western Italy. It is black-pied, with short horns. It is one of three regional breeds in the area, the others being the Valdostana Castana and the Valdostana Pezzata Rossa. Like them, it derives from inter-breeding of various local breeds and types of cattle. It appears to have been most influenced by the Swiss Fribourgeoise and Hérens breeds, which came into the Valle d'Aosta over the Great St. Bernard Pass. The Valdostana Pezzata Nera is a dual-purpose breed, raised mainly for milk, but also for meat. Management is normally transhumant: the cattle are stabled only in winter, and spend the summer months on the mountain pastures of the Alps.
