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Vinschgau Valley

Vinschgau
District
Comunità comprensoriale Val Venosta
Bezirksgemeinschaft Vinschgau
Vinschgau district (highlighted in green) within South Tyrol; the yellow-black stripes mark the geographical extent of the valley
Vinschgau district (highlighted in green) within South Tyrol; the yellow-black stripes mark the geographical extent of the valley
Country  Italy
Autonomous region  Trentino-Alto Adige
Autonomous province  South Tyrol
Established 1962
Administrative seat Schlanders (Silandro)
Area
 • Total 1,442 km2 (557 sq mi)
Population (2005)
 • Total 35,043
 • Density 24/km2 (63/sq mi)
Website www.bzgvin.it

The Vinschgau (Italian: Val Venosta [ˈval veˈnɔsta], German: Vinschgau, Romansh: Vnuost, Ladin: Val Venuesta, medieval: Finsgowe) or Vinschgau Valley is the upper part of the Adige or Etsch river valley, in the western part of the province of South Tyrol, Italy.

The German name Vinschgau, like Italian Val Venosta, is derived from the Celtic (Rhaetian) Venostes tribes mentioned on the ancient Tropaeum Alpium. A Frankish Gau was established under Charlemagne in 772; it was first mentioned in a 1077 deed, when King Henry IV of Germany granted the estates of Schlanders in pago Finsgowe to Bishop Altwin of Brixen.

The Vinschgau Valley runs in a west-east orientation, from the Merano basin at Partschins up the Adige river to Reschen Pass in the northwest. The Ötztal Alps in the north, part of the Alpine crest, separate it from the upper Inn Valley. The Adige valley is further confined by the Sesvenna Alps in the west and the Ortler Alps in the south. It comprises several side valleys, such as the Suldental, the Matscher Tal, or the Schnalstal.


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