Pragelato

Pragelato
Comune
Comune di Pragelato

Parish church.

Coat of arms
Pragelato

Location of Pragelato in Italy

Coordinates: 45°1′N 6°57′E / 45.017°N 6.950°E / 45.017; 6.950
Country Italy
Region Piedmont
Province Turin (TO)
Frazioni La Ruà, Allevè, Chezal, Duc, Grand Puy, Granges, Jousseaud, Laval, Pattemouche, Plan, Rif, Rivets, Seytes, Troncea, Souchéres Basses, Souchère Haute, Traverses, Villardamond, Val Tronche, Tronchée
Government
 • Mayor Giovanni Arolfo
Area
 • Total 89.6 km2 (34.6 sq mi)
Elevation 1,518 m (4,980 ft)
Population (Dec. 2004[1])
 • Total 536
 • Density 6.0/km2 (15/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Pragelatesi
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 10060
Dialing code 0122
Website Official website

Pragelato (also Pragelà[2]) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Turin, in the upper Val Chisone. The name Pragelato, meaning "icy meadow", has been derived from the harsh climate and the fact that the ground is covered with ice for long periods.[2][3] On both sides of the Chisone, extensive forests of pine and larch provide protection from the avalanches which are a common occurrence in the winter season: for this reason in the nineteenth century the people of Pragelato were only permitted to fell trees close to the mountain summits, and even then only with the permission of the communal administration.[3]

Pragelato borders the following municipalities: Exilles, Oulx, Salbertrand, Usseaux, Fenestrelle, Sauze d'Oulx, Massello, Sestriere, Sauze di Cesana, Salza di Pinerolo, Prali.

History

Pragelato was part of the Escartons Republic, a semi-independent French state which lasted from 1343 to 1713. After the Treaty of Utrecht of the latter, it became a possession of the House of Savoy.

In 1747 the Assietta Hill, nearby the village, was the seat of the eponymous battle. During the 19th and 20th century, much of the population emigrated to France.

Pragelato was the site of three sports hosted during the 2006 Winter Olympics. Its ski jump hosted the ski jumping and the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined events of the 2006 Winter Olympics.[4] The flat part of the venue hosted the cross-country skiing and cross country skiing part of the Nordic combined events for those same games.[5]

Tourism

There is a wide variety of activities for tourists, who can enjoy any kind of sport, in summer a 9-hole golf course can be played.

Ski area

Pragelato is well equipped for cross-country skiing. Its Olympic course – the Pragelato Plan – has a snow-making system over 10 kilometres (6 mi), and a tourist course winds along Val Troncea Natural Park.

The ski-jumping stadium present the Olympic heritage, which highlights the tourist-sport development of this resort.

Pragelato has his own alpine skiing areas with about 50 kilometres (31 mi) of slopes and is linked to the Via Lattea ski area, with about 400 kilometres (250 mi) of slopes in Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx, Montgenevre (France), Claviere, Pragelato, San Sicario, Cesana.

Natural parks

References

  1. ↑ All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat.
  2. 1 2 'Pragelato' in Dizionario topografico dei comuni compresi entro i confini naturali dell'Italia, ed. by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence: Società Editrice di Patrii Documenti Storico-Statistici, 1864).
  3. 1 2 Dizionario geografico, storico, statistico, commerciale degli stati di S.M. il re di Sardegna, ed. by Goffredo Casalis, 28 vols (Turin: G. Maspero, 1833–56) XV (1847), 707–709.
  4. ↑ 2006 Winter Olympics official report. Volume 3. pp. 70-1.
  5. ↑ 2006 Winter Olympics official report. Volume 3. pp. 72-3.

External links

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