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Sesia-Val Grande UNESCO Global Geopark
A unique environment in the world for geology lovers
The Sesia-Val Grande UNESCO Global Geopark is located in northwestern Piedmont, in an area that extends from Lake Maggiore to the border with Switzerland, up to Monte Rosa at the border with Aosta Valley.
The territory of the Geopark can be considered as the reference section of the most accessible continental crust in the world, consisting of a different association of deep, middle, and upper crust rocks that provide an unprecedented model. These rocks indeed derive from the collision between the continents of Africa and Europe, which has progressed over the last 100 million years, driving the Alpine orogeny. Along the Alps, the boundary between the two continents is the Insubric line. In the same area is the Supervolcano of Valsesia that erupted about 280 million years ago forming a huge caldera, the remains of which are still clearly visible today. Stretching from the Po Valley to the peaks of the Alps, the Sesia Val Grande Geopark offers the opportunity to observe the effects of climate change recorded by the geomorphology of the Pleistocene, from the recent retreat of glaciers and from human settlement patterns dating back to the Paleolithic.
Even stones become culture: the Sesia-Val Grande Geopark was recognized by UNESCO in 2013 and since 2015 has become part of the UNESCO Global Geoparks, the new program considered on par with the World Heritage of Humanity, the Biosphere Reserves, and the Intangible Heritage.
The territory is bordered to the west by the Aosta Valley and the Monte Rosa massif, to the north by the Ossola and Vigezzo valleys and the Swiss border, to the east and south by Lake Maggiore and the Po plain. These borders make the Sesia Val Grande the highest and steepest Geopark in Europe. Within a radius of just 60 km, the area ranges from Cima Gnifetti at 4,554 meters altitude to Lake Maggiore at 190 meters above sea level. Throughout the year, environmental education programs for students are organized, covering a wide range of activities such as identifying minerals and rocks, alpine orogeny, and plate tectonics, in addition to nature observation.
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