Valle Vigezzo (Vigezzo Valley) is a valley in the Lepontine Alps in northwestern Italy on the border with Canton Ticino of Switzerland. It forms the eastern branch of the Ossola valley. It is also called the Valle dei Pittori (Valley of the Painters) due to the large number of painters over the centuries such as Giuseppe Mattia Borgnis, Lorenzo Peretti, Bernardino Peretti, Enrico Cavalli, Carlo Fornara, Giovanni Battista Ciolina, Gian Maria Rastellini, Maurizio Borgnis, Lorenzo Peretti Junior. It is remembered for its "spazzacamini" or chimney-sweepers who brought their trade around Europe. It is connected with the Eau de Cologne, invented over 300 years ago by Giovanni Maria Farina using, among other ingredients flowers and oils from plants from Vigezzo. Another man from Vigezzo, Giovan Maria Salati is credited to be the first recorded person swimming across the English Channel over 200 years ago, after having been taken prisoner by the British after Waterloo.
The valley itself is unusual for not having a single river running along it, but two, one towards the Toce river (Melezzo Occidentale) and the other (Melezzo Orientale) to the Swiss side towards Lake Maggiore. The Swiss side of the valley is called Centovalli.
In the valley there are many beautiful villages: Druogno, Santa Maria Maggiore, Malesco and Re at the valley floor; Toceno, Craveggia and Villette on the slopes.
46°08′00″N8°33′00″E / 46.1333°N 8.55°E
Eau de Cologne, or simply cologne, is a perfume originating from Cologne, Germany. Originally mixed by Johann Maria Farina in 1709, it has since come to be a generic term for scented formulations in typical concentration of 2–5% and also more depending upon its type of essential oils or a blend of extracts, alcohol, and water. In a base of dilute ethanol (70–90%), eau de cologne contains a mixture of citrus oils, including oils of lemon, orange, tangerine, clementine, bergamot, lime, grapefruit, blood orange, bitter orange, and neroli. It can also contain oils of lavender, rosemary, thyme, oregano, petitgrain, jasmine, olive, oleaster, and tobacco.
The river Ticino is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows.
Valle Maggia is an alpine valley in the Vallemaggia district of canton of Ticino, the Italian-spoken canton of Switzerland. The valley is formed by the river Maggia and is situated between the Centovalli and Lago Maggiore as well as the Valle Verzasca in the East.
The Ossola is an area of Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Domodossola.
Sant'Andrea della Valle is a minor basilica in the rione of Sant'Eustachio of the city of Rome, Italy. The basilica is the general seat for the religious order of the Theatines. It is located at Piazza Vidoni, at the intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Corso Rinascimento.
The aristocratic House of Borromeo were merchants in San Miniato around 1300 and became bankers in Milan after 1370. Vitaliano de' Vitaliani, who acquired the name of Borromeo from his uncle Giovanni, became the count of Arona in 1445. His descendants played important roles in the politics of the Duchy of Milan and as cardinals in the Catholic Reformation. In 1916, the head of the family was granted the title Prince of Angera by the King of Italy.
The Geography of Piedmont is that of a territory predominantly mountainous, 43.3%, but with extensive areas of hills which represent 30.3% of the territory, and of plains (26.4%).
The Valle Verzasca is a valley in the Locarno district of the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It comprises the municipalities of Mergoscia, Vogorno, Corippo, Lavertezzo, Brione, Gerra, Frasco, and Sonogno. As of 2004, the total population is 3,200. It is the most central valley of Ticino, and none of the passes out of the valley cross cantonal or national borders. The valley is formed by the river Verzasca and is situated between the Leventina and the Maggia and culminates at Pizzo Barone.
The Melezzo Occidentale is a 13 km Alpine torrent which runs through the western part of the Val Vigezzo, a side valley of the Ossola in the Province of Verbano Cusio Ossola, northern Italy. Belonging to the Po basin, it is a left tributary of the Toce which in its turn flows into Lago Maggiore.
The Melezza, in Italy the Melezzo Orientale, is a 42 km Alpine torrent which runs through the eastern part of the Val Vigezzo, in the Province of Verbano Cusio Ossola, northern Italy; and through the Centovalli of Canton Ticino, Switzerland. Belonging to the Po basin, it is a tributary of the Maggia which in its turn flows into Lago Maggiore.
The Rein da Medel is the longest headwater of the Rhine. It is located in the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Graubünden and flows through the valleys Val Cadlimo and Val Medel. Rein da Medel is the local Sursilvan, name in Graubünden, which is commonly used to denote the ticinese part as well.
The Domodossola–Locarno railway line, informally called the Centovallina in Switzerland and the Vigezzina in Italy, is a metre-gauge railway negotiating the dramatic mountainous terrain between Domodossola, Italy, and Locarno, Switzerland. It passes through the Vigezzo Valley and Centovalli.
Val Grande National Park is a protected area located in Piedmont, in the north of Italy, at the border with Switzerland. It is most notable for landscapes of the High Alps.
Giovanni Battista Ciolina was an Italian neo-impressionist and divisionist painter.
Giuseppe Mattia Borgnis (1701–1761) was an Italian painter and architect.
The so-called Market way connects Locarno with Domodossola, through the Centovalli and the Val Vigezzo. The way uses ancient path and mule tracks used in the past centuries by merchants transporting goods from Italy and Switzerland. In the early 20th century the Centovalli railway was built in order to develop the commerce and is nowadays a main tourist attraction.
Lorenzo Peretti was an Italian divisionist and postimpressionist painter.
Enrico Cavalli was an Italian post-impressionist painter.
Carlo Fornara was an Italian neo-impressionist and divisionist painter.
Gian Maria Rastellini was an Italian neo-impressionist painter.