Bormio

Bormio (Lombard: Bormi, Romansh: Buorm , German: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and comune with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy.

The centre of the upper Valtellina valley, it is a popular winter sports resort. It was the site of the Alpine World Ski Championships in 1985 and 2005, and annually hosts the Alpine Ski World Cup. In addition to modern skiing facilities, the town is noted for the presence of several hot springs that have been tapped to provide water to three thermal baths.

Geography

Bormio lies in the northeast of the Lombardy region at the top of the Valtellina, a broad glacial valley formed by the Adda River that flows down into Lake Como. It is linked to other valleys via four passes:

Primary School, with World War I memorial by Egidio Gunella di Viggiù (1864-1934)

Collegiata church.

History

Due to its thermal baths at Bagni Vecchi, Bagni Nuovi and Terme di Bormio, Bormio has long been a tourist attraction. Members of the Roman aristocracy already travelled to Bormio in order to enjoy warm baths in the mountainous scenery. Most of these thermal baths are still in use today.

The town is centred on the historic Piazza Cavour and Via Roma, a historic main trading point on the route from Venice to Switzerland. Bormio retains its unique medieval town centre, attracting many tourists, mainly Italian, from Milan and other cities.

Alpine skiing

The village hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships twice, in 1985 and 2005. Both times it was a cohosting together with Santa Caterina di Valfurva. There are 50 kilometres (31 miles) of marked ski runs, the longest run of which is 6 kilometres (4 miles), served by 14 lifts and several ski schools.

Bormio is a regular stop on the World Cup circuit, usually with a men's downhill in late December. The Pista Stelvio, named after Stelvio Pass, is one of the most challenging downhill courses in the world. It is second-longest course on the World Cup circuit, behind only the Lauberhorn in Wengen, Switzerland. For the December 2010 World Cup race, the Stelvio had a vertical drop of 1,010 metres (3,314 feet) on a course length of 3.27 km (2.03 mi); the winning time was just under two minutes.^[2]^[3]

Main sights

Giardino Botanico Alpino "Rezia"

People

The Olympic skiing brothers Erminio, Giacinto and Stefano Sertorelli were born in Bormio.
The best coach of the Italian national ski team from 1970-1976, Oreste Peccedi, was born and still lives in the famous 'flower house' in Bormio.
The Italian ski mountaineers Francesca Martinelli and Roberta Pedranzini were born in Bormio.
The 6 times world champion runner Marco De Gasperi was born in Bormio.
The Italo-Australian ski holiday planner, Tania Peccedi (daughter of Oreste Peccedi) was born and raised in Bormio.

International relations

Bormio is twinned with:

Huez, France, since 2005.
Qakh, Azerbaijan, since 2014.

References

↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
↑ FIS-ski.com - World Cup downhill results - Bormio - 2010-Dec-29
↑ Alpine Ski Maps.com - winter map - Bormio

Bormio
Bormio and Valfurva from 10 km (6 mi) above
Location	Bormio, Italy
Nearest city	Bormio
Coordinates	46°28′03″N 10°22′41″E / 46.46750°N 10.37806°E / 46.46750; 10.37806 (Bormio)
Vertical	1786 m - (5862 ft)
Top elevation	3012 m - (9882 ft)
Base elevation	1224 m - (4019 ft)
Skiable area	75 km² - (29.0 sq.mi.)
Runs	44
Longest run	3.7 mi (6.0 km)
Lift system	14 (3 gondolas, 5 chairlifts, 4 drag lifts, 2 other)
Lift capacity	16,000 skiers/hr
Snowfall	300 cm - (118 in.)
Snowmaking	12 km² - (4.6 sq.mi.), 35%
Website	Bormio.it

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bormio.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Bormio.

Lombardy · Comuni of the Province of Sondrio

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.