The Monviso

The Monviso is there. This elder of th Alps does not want any introduction. Piedmontese look at it every day, Italians know that it is the father of the big Po. French anvy it to us. Giant it burst out from earth and the forces gave it form with four lashes of fire. No other moutain was similar to it. Throughout millenniums it was the Most High of the alps. The only one of whom the ancients had handed on the name: Vesulus. Matterhorn and Mount Blanc, Gran Paradiso, Mount Rosa, Pelmo and Civetta, Tofane and Laveredo came later, long after in history. Isolated, with a clear, unmistakable structure, the Monviso always imposes itself. In Italy it was famous as Olympus in Grece, without being abode of divinities. Perfect pyramid of stone and ice against horizon. The Visible Mount....

(Cfr, Ezio Nicoli, Monviso re di pietra, Gribaudo Editore.)