The Gondo Canyon and Weissmies Group.

Diveria - Apr 10, 2008 4:21 am - Hasn't voted

This is a strange valley, so narrow and rugged but with one of the main routes connecting the South and North side of the Alps runnning in it!
The old route used to pass from the place where I have taken this photo, then Napoleon built the actual route in the deep of the canyon.
This route has been the cause of numerous wars, hundreds of years ago, between the armies of the bishop of Sion(Switzerland) and of the bishop of Novara(Italy).
In the end Switzerland take the possesion of the portion of valley that from this canyon ascend to the wide plane of Simplon pass.
Geographically the rivers that borns froom these mountains, including Diveria, always flow toward Maggiore lake, in Italy, so it's unnatural that the border line is located in the middle of the valley and not on the natural border ridge.
But that is not a problem, I like the way Switzerland administrated this land, but I hope the new high- speed railway in program will not change anything here, and the position of the border has not been a problem also for the smugglers running through these wild mountains for years!