Cottian Alps

The Cottian Alps rise west of the Piedmontese plain, their valleys descending toward the Po. Their name recalls Cottius, a ruler of Alpine peoples in the first century BC. In the Middle Ages Savoy and the Dauphiné divided authority over the range; some communities enjoyed limited autonomy as part of the Escartons. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 assigned the eastern mountain territories to Savoy.