The Valley of Suse, Valley di Susa in Italian, is an alpine valley which is in the Western part of the Piedmont in Italy, in the west of Turin.

It is crossed by the Doire Ripaire, affluent of the Po and owes its name at the town of Suse, located at the confluence with the Val Cenischia from which come the road which passes to the Col of the Mount-Cenis and that coming from the Col from Montgenèvre.

History

The first human establishments go back to approximately 5000 years before Jesus-Christ but, since the Romans one discovered a possibility of passage towards the Gaules by the valleys of Montgenèvre and the Mount-Cenis, of innumerable passages of people and soldiers are succédé; it was crossed, inter alia, by Hannibal with its elephants, by Jules César going as a Gaulle, by Charlemagne and the Lombards, then by French and Spanish troops on several occasions.

Abbey of Saint-Michel-of it Cluse founded at the end of IXe century.

The upstream part of the valley was French of 1343 to 1713, the border being then not far from the strengthened city of Exilles. This part, then attached to Dauphine was under the administration of the Écartons from Briançonnais. In 1713, it passes under the cut of the House of Savoy thanks to the signature of the treated of Utrecht.

In 1857 was begun the boring of the railway Tunnel of the Mount-Cenis between Modane (not yet French because Savoyard until 1860) and Bardonnèche which made it possible to connect Turin to the France accentuating its role of transportation route between the Plaine of Po and Western Europe with France.

In 1947, new frontier changes, France recovering, enter others, part of the slope is collar of the Mount-Cenis, the narrow valley (attached to the commune of Névache) and the top of Chaberton where the Italian army had built an offensive fort whereas the border of the Montgenèvre is moved at the southern entry of the village of Clavières.

In 1980, the road tunnel of Frejus was parallel to open the railway tunnel, prolonged in the Années 1990 by the has 32 which connects it to the Italian highway network, highway which is added to the two trunk roads ( statali ) crossing the valleys, the 24 and the 25 respectively serving the collars of Montgenèvre and the Mount-Cenis. A project of rail link at high speed between Lyon and Turin, in particular including a basic tunnel of 53,1 km under the solid mass of the Mount of Ambin. This project raises the opposition of the local population (NO TAV). It is also necessary to note the existence of a project of tunnel ferrovaire between Oulx and Briançon which would allow a direct connection between Marseilles and the plain padane.

Economy

The economy of the valley is based especially on winter tourism related to the winter sports resorts of Bardonèche, Cézanne, Sestrières, Sauze d' Oulx. It is precisely there that at the beginning of the 20th century the Ski started to be spread in Italy. The valley accommodated the XXe Winter Olympics in 2006.

Culture

Languages

The low part of the valley is Francoprovençal E, like are the Val of Aoste, the Romandie, the Savoy and the Lyonnais. The dialect is generally called “patois” or “patoua”. The high valley is of tradition Occitan E (Bardonèche). This cultural heritage appears in particular in the place names (Champlas Séguin, Beaulard, Exilles, Jouvenceaux, Mélezet…) although the majority were Italianized since. Nowadays, the Italian is the principal language as in the remainder of Italy.

Choraux songs

Certain numbers of choruses contribute to the maintenance of the local traditions by diffusing the culture of the Valley of Suse via the popular song, giving concerts not only in the valley, but also in the remainder of Italy and foreign countries. Among these choruses, most prestigious are the Coro Alpino Valsusa of Bussoleno, the Coro Alpi Cozie of Suse and the Corale Rocciamelone of Saint-Anthony de Suse.

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