“La Pietra Papale”

Abstract

ABOVE Stresa, on the western bank of Lago Maggiore, there is an enormous granite boulder, which deserves the attention of geologists. It lies on the left slope of an old moraine, near the little village of Gignese, and not far from the Hotel Alpino, at an elevation of about 2500 feet above the sea-level. It is roughly oblong in shape, and measures some 75 feet in length, and perhaps half as much in breadth and thickness. The projected mountain railway from Stresa to the summit of Monte Motterone will pass close to the spot where it lies, and the masons are already engaged in converting the smaller boulders into building-stones. It is to be hoped, however, that la pietra papale, as this splendid example of the carrying powers of ice is called by the villagers, will not suffer the like fate. The Italian Alpine Club, will, we may trust, interest themselves in this matter.