- Valtellina
Valtellina or the Valtelline
valley ; ( _it. Valtellina, _de. Veltlin, _rm. Vuclina) is a valley in theLombardy region of northernItaly , borderingSwitzerland . Today it is known for itsskiing , itshot spring spas, itscheese s (in particularBitto , named after the torrent Bitto) and its wines. In past centuries it was a key alpine pass between northern Italy andGermany and control of the Valtelline was much sought after, particularly during theThirty Years' War .Geography
The most important commune of the valley is
Sondrio ; others includeAprica ,Morbegno ,Tirano , andBormio .Livigno , although on the northern side of the alpine watershed, can also be considered to be part of Valtellina as it falls within theprovince of Sondrio .History
During the 16th, 17th and 18th century the Valtellina was part of
Graubünden , which was then a country independent of Switzerland, but is now the easternmost canton of Switzerland. Graubünden is the area in which German, Romansh and Italian are spoken and hence during 16th century rule by Graubünden, the region was known varyingly as "Veltlin, Westtirol" (WestTyrol ), and as the "Welsche Vogteien" ("Foreign Bailiwicks").In 1797 the growing power of the
First French Republic created theCisalpine republic in Northern Italy. On10 October 1797 , the French supported a revolt in the Valtellina against theGraubünden (the "Grey Leagues"; "Grisons" in French, now aSwiss Canton ) and joined theCisalpine Republic .In the region north of Morbegno in the Costiera dei Cech live a cultural group believed to descend from an 8th century Frankish invasion of Italy.
The area was originally a mix of Romansh and Italian languages but now Italian is the dominant language.
Industrially, the area is famous as the home of the world's first mainline electrified
railway . The electrification of the Valtellina line took place in 1902, using three-phase power at 3,600 V, with a maximum speed of 70 km/h. The system was designed by the brilliant Hungarian engineerKálmán Kandó who was employed by main contractors the Budapest-basedGanz company.Wines
In Valtellina the wines are produced mainly by "Chiavennasca" (the local name of
Nebbiolo grape variety ). Generally the quality of the wine is high, and most wines have theappellation DOC andDOCG . The most well-known red wines are: Inferno,Grumello ,Sassella andSforzato (Sfurzat).Valposchiavo
In the lower part of
Valposchiavo , inSwitzerland some wines are also produced, similar to the Italian wines, but with differing regulations (i.e.appellation and allowance ofsugar addition, orchaptalization ).ee also
*
Valtellina disaster References
Further reading: F Pieth: Bündnergeschichte, 1982, ISBN 3-85894-002-X
External links
* [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh402.html An extensive history of the Valtelline area]
* [http://www.valtellina.it/ Tourist information]
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