Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

217 results found

Isonzo

(Encyclopedia)Isonzo ēzônˈtsō [key], river, 87 mi (140 km) long, rising in the Julian Alps, NW Slovenia, and flowing S through Slovenia, where it is known as the Soča, then SW through NE Italy before emptying ...

Dolomites

(Encyclopedia)Dolomites or Dolomite Alps, Alpine group, N Italy, between the Isarco and Piave rivers, named for the dolomitic limestone of which it is composed. Famous for their strikingly bold outline (a stairstep...

Pindus

(Encyclopedia)Pindus pĭnˈdəs [key], Gr. Píndhos, chief mountain range of Greece, extending c.100 mi (160 km) S from the Albanian border through NW Greece. Mt. Smólikas (8,650 ft/2,637 m) is the highest peak. T...

Young, Geoffrey Winthrop

(Encyclopedia)Young, Geoffrey Winthrop, 1876–1958, English writer, an authority on mountaineering. He was educated at Cambridge and later studied in Switzerland and France. Before 1914 he made an impressive recor...

Townsend, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Townsend, Mount, 7,247 ft (2,209 m) high, SE New South Wales, in the Australian Alps. The second tallest peak in Australia, it was explored by Polish-British geologist Sir Paul Strzelecki, who believe...

Chartreuse, Grande

(Encyclopedia)Chartreuse, Grande gräNd shärtrözˈ [key], mountainous massif, Isère dept., SE France, in the Dauphiné Alps; Chamechaude Peak (6,847 ft/2,087 m) is the highest point. There in a high valley St. B...

Sinaia

(Encyclopedia)Sinaia sēnīˈä [key], town (1990 pop. 15,817), S central Romania, in Walachia, in the Transylvanian Alps. It is a health and winter sports resort and has a metalworking plant and manufactures such ...

Bruno, Saint, c.1030–1101, German monk, founder of the Carthusians

(Encyclopedia)Bruno, Saint, c.1030–1101, German monk, founder of the Carthusians, b. Cologne. He studied and taught at Reims. In 1084 he took six companions and founded a little monastery in the Alps, which becam...

Valais

(Encyclopedia)Valais välāˈ [key], Ger. Wallis, canton (1993 pop. 262,400), 2,021 sq mi (5,234 sq km), S Switzerland. Sion is the capital. Bordering on France and Italy, the Valais extends from the Bernese Alps i...

Oberammergau

(Encyclopedia)Oberammergau ōˌbərämˈərgou [key], town (1994 pop. 5,343), Bavaria, S Germany, in the Bavarian Alps. It has been a noted center of woodcarving since the 12th cent. Oberammergau is famous for the ...