Italy's mountains, summit by summit

Italy's high ground splits into two systems with different rules: the Alps, where Punta Dufour reaches 4,634¹ m (15,203 feet) and glaciers still hold, and the Apennines, where the highest point is Corno Grande at 2,912⁵ m (9,554 feet) and the last glacier is disappearing.

Monte Rosa: 30 summits over 4,000 m

Punta Dufour reaches 4,634¹ m (15,203 feet) and is the second highest summit in the whole Alpine chain, on the meeting point of Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont and the Swiss canton of Valais. The massif around it counts 30 summits above 4,000² m and 220² sq km of glaciers, and the glacier figure shrinks with every survey.

At Punta Gnifetti, 4,554² m (14,941 feet), stands the Capanna Regina Margherita, the highest hut in Europe. Punta Dufour itself sits on the border, so the highest summit lying entirely inside Italy is a different peak, and we have not verified which.

The Matterhorn and a date that matters

The Matterhorn measures 4,478³ m (14,691 feet) and rises above Valtournenche in Valle d'Aosta on the Italian-Swiss border. The regional source gives that figure; the geodetic surveys of IGM and swisstopo, which we did not check, work in the range of 4,477³ to 4,478³ m.

It was first climbed on July 14, 1865⁴ from the Swiss side by Edward Whymper's party, and shortly afterwards from the Italian side by the rope led by Jean-Antoine Carrel, the guide from Valtournenche. The two ascents are why the mountain has two names and two national stories.

The Apennines top out at 2,912 m

Corno Grande reaches 2,912⁵ m (9,554 feet) above Campo Imperatore in Abruzzo, inside the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga national park, and it is the highest point of the Apennines. That is 1,722 m lower than Punta Dufour, and it is reached from a plateau at road height, which changes the kind of day it takes.

Below the west face lies the Calderone, which the park authority describes as the southernmost glacier in Europe. Several glaciological studies now classify it as a residual ice body rather than a true glacier, so expect the wording to change at the next survey.

Etna: the height that keeps moving

Etna has 3 published heights and no single official one: the INGV factsheet gives 3,324⁷ m, the civil protection department 3,350⁷ m, and the INGV drone survey of July 7, 2024 measured 3,369⁷ m (11,053 feet) on the eastern rim of the Voragine, the highest value ever recorded on the volcano.

Earlier surveys give 3,354⁸ m in December 2023 and 3,347⁸ m in August 2021, both on the South-East crater. The number changes with each eruptive phase, which is why it must always carry its date. What the volcano is doing now is on the volcanoes page.

One trail that links all of it

The Sentiero Italia CAI covers 7,900⁹ to 8,000 km⁹ in over 500¹⁰ stages and touches all 20 regions, from Santa Teresa Gallura in Sardinia to Muggia, on the Slovenian border near Trieste. It crosses Sardinia, Sicily, the Apennines and the entire Alpine arc.

It is maintained by the Club Alpino Italiano rather than by a national park authority, so stage descriptions and signposting quality vary by section. Regional detail is on the Valle d'Aosta, Abruzzo and Trentino pages.

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