This article is about the Italian municipality. For the astronomer, see Paolo ChiavennaPaolo Chiavenna is an Italian astronomer who is active at the Sormano Astronomical Observatory in the north Italian province of Como. The observatory was founded in 1987 and is a member of the GIA , an Italian association of amateur astronomers who specialize in the observation of minor bodies...
.
Chiavenna is a
comuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.- Importance and function :...
(municipality) in the
Province of SondrioThe Province of Sondrio is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Sondrio.It has an area of 3,212 km², and a total population of 176,856...
in the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
region
LombardyLombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region...
, located about 100 km north of
MilanMilan in Italy, is the capital of the region of Lombardia and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while the urban area is the fifth largest in the E.U. with an estimated population of 4.3 million...
and about 40 km northwest of
SondrioSondrio is an Italian town and comune located in the heart of the Valtellina. Sondrio counts approximately 22,600 inhabitants and it is the administrative centre for the Lombard Province of Sondrio.- History :...
. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,263 and an area of 11.1 km².
The municipality of Chiavenna contains the
frazioniA frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
(subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Campedello, Loreto, Pianazzola, and San Carlo.
Chiavenna borders the following municipalities:
MeseMese may refer to:*Mese, Burma, a town in Kayah State of eastern Myanmar*Mese, Italy, a comune in the province of Sondrio*Mese , one of the three Muses of the lyre that were worshipped at Delphi...
,
PiuroPiuro is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 100 km north of Milan and about 40 km northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland...
,
Prata CamportaccioPrata Camportaccio is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 100 km north of Milan and about 40 km northwest of Sondrio...
,
San Giacomo FilippoSan Giacomo Filippo is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 100 km north of Milan and about 45 km northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland...
.
Chiavenna, the
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Clavenna, was a town of Rhaetia, on the Italian side of the
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, about 16 km from the head of the Lacus Larius (modern
Lake ComoLake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
), at the foot of the
Valle SplugaThe Valle Spluga, also known as the Val San Giacomo, is an Alpine valley in the north Italian Province of Sondrio , which extends from the Splügen Pass, on the border with Switzerland, south to Chiavenna. It is the valley of the river Liro....
which leads up to the
Splügen PassThe Splügen Pass is a high mountain pass which marks the boundary between the Lepontine and Rhaetian Alps....
.
This article is about the Italian municipality. For the astronomer, see Paolo ChiavennaPaolo Chiavenna is an Italian astronomer who is active at the Sormano Astronomical Observatory in the north Italian province of Como. The observatory was founded in 1987 and is a member of the GIA , an Italian association of amateur astronomers who specialize in the observation of minor bodies...
.
Chiavenna is a
comuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.- Importance and function :...
(municipality) in the
Province of SondrioThe Province of Sondrio is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Sondrio.It has an area of 3,212 km², and a total population of 176,856...
in the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
region
LombardyLombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region...
, located about 100 km north of
MilanMilan in Italy, is the capital of the region of Lombardia and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while the urban area is the fifth largest in the E.U. with an estimated population of 4.3 million...
and about 40 km northwest of
SondrioSondrio is an Italian town and comune located in the heart of the Valtellina. Sondrio counts approximately 22,600 inhabitants and it is the administrative centre for the Lombard Province of Sondrio.- History :...
. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,263 and an area of 11.1 km².
The municipality of Chiavenna contains the
frazioniA frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
(subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Campedello, Loreto, Pianazzola, and San Carlo.
Chiavenna borders the following municipalities:
MeseMese may refer to:*Mese, Burma, a town in Kayah State of eastern Myanmar*Mese, Italy, a comune in the province of Sondrio*Mese , one of the three Muses of the lyre that were worshipped at Delphi...
,
PiuroPiuro is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 100 km north of Milan and about 40 km northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland...
,
Prata CamportaccioPrata Camportaccio is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 100 km north of Milan and about 40 km northwest of Sondrio...
,
San Giacomo FilippoSan Giacomo Filippo is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 100 km north of Milan and about 45 km northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland...
.
Location and history
Chiavenna, the
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Clavenna, was a town of Rhaetia, on the Italian side of the
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, about 16 km from the head of the Lacus Larius (modern
Lake ComoLake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
), at the foot of the
Valle SplugaThe Valle Spluga, also known as the Val San Giacomo, is an Alpine valley in the north Italian Province of Sondrio , which extends from the Splügen Pass, on the border with Switzerland, south to Chiavenna. It is the valley of the river Liro....
which leads up to the
Splügen PassThe Splügen Pass is a high mountain pass which marks the boundary between the Lepontine and Rhaetian Alps....
. The Itineraries demonstrate that the pass was frequented in ancient times; as well as another, which separated from it at Clavenna, and led by a more circuitous route over to Curia (modern
ChurChur ; ; , and ) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:...
), where it rejoined the preceding road. (Itin. Ant. pp. 277, 278; Tab. Peut.; P. Diac. vi. 29.) It was by one or other of these passes that
StilichoFlavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of semi-barbarian birth.- Career :...
crossed the Alps in midwinter, a feat celebrated by
ClaudianClaudian was a Roman poet, who worked for Emperor Honorius and the latter's general Stilicho.A Greek-speaking citizen of Alexandria, Claudian arrived in Rome before 395, and made his mark with a eulogy of his two young patrons, Probinus and Olybrius, thereby becoming court poet...
(
de B. Get. 320-358). Clavenna probably derived some importance from its position at the junction of these two passes, as does the modern town of Chiavenna, which is the chief town of the surrounding district.
External links