Breuil-Cervinia has a short history. Until the beginning of the 19th century, the Breuil basin was just a pasture, with a group of shepherds living in a few alpine cottages only in summer. However, in the
Middle Ages, the Breuil was an important crossroad for
merchants who had to cross the
Alps and for the settlement of the
Walser community in the near the
Ayas and
Lys valleys. The real growth of the town began in the 1850s with the birth of
alpinism all over the
Alps. The explorations of
Horace-Bénedict de Saussure through the Savoy Alps in the 1700s heightened interest in the
Matterhorn and the other mountains of the
Savoyard state, particularly among the English bourgeoisie, who were increasingly interested in
wilderness travel. Resident shepherds, such as
Jean-Antoine Carrel, had long looked upon their home mountain as something attainable, and made the first attempts to ascend the
Matterhorn from the south face. Many European mountain climbers saw the
Matterhorn as a great challenge, and the arrival of
John Tyndall and
Edward Whymper in Breuil began competition for the first complete ascent, aided by
Jean-Antoine's knowledge of the territory. The construction of some bases became necessary. Some examples are the first
Refuge du Théodule (built in 1852) at 3317 m (10882.6 ft), the Jumeaux Hotel and the Hôtel du Cervin. . After years of collaboration with
Jean-Antoine Carrel, the
competition was won by
Edward Whymper in 1865, after he realised that the Hörnli ridge was easier to climb. Only three days later,
Jean-Antoine Carrel was able to climb the Matterhorn by the more difficult Lion ridge. After
Edward Whymper's ascent team on the north face met with disaster while returning to
Zermatt,
Amé Gorret, a fellow climber and fellow countryman of
Jean-Antoine Carrel, realised that tourism in Breuil could be increased by building the first alpine refuge on the
Matterhorn.
Amé Gorret asked the
Italian Alpine Club to support his project, which resulted the refuge located at the
Cravate (4,120 m) of the Matterhorn, inaugurated in 1867. As a result of the exploratory drive and the newborn mountaineering movement, the
Società Guide del Cervino (it.) /
Société des guides du Cervin (fr.), one of the oldest mountain guide societies in the world, was founded in Breuil in 1865. The first hotels began to be built in the area and the town began to develop from a simple alpine pasture to a tourist destination. With the emergence of
ski mountaineering, the Breuil slopes became the destination of the first skiers, accelerating the transformation into a top tourist destination. A number of entrepreneurs from
Piedmont, driven by the desire to build new
hydroelectric plants on behalf of the
Società Idroelettrica Piemontese, explore the side valleys of the
Aosta Valley, including the Valtournenche Valley. During the explorations and the first construction of hydroelectric plants in the lower part of the Valtournenche Valley, the entrepreneur and engineer Dino Lora Totino saw in Breuil the possibility of creating a first-class tourist resort. In 1934, together with other Piedmontese entrepreneurs, Dino Lora Totino founded the
Società Anonima Cervino, with the aim of transforming Breuil into an important tourist destination by building modern
ski lifts. In 1934, the road connecting the main town of
Valtournenche, Pâquier, to Breuil was built. Two years later, the
Breuil - Plan Maison cable car (2,555 m) was inaugurated. During 1939 Breuil was renamed
Cervinia because of the
fascist project of Italianization of
Aosta Valley's toponyms. 1939 also had been the year of a big venture: the highest skilift in Italy was opened, linking Plan Maison with the
Testa Grigia at 3480 m (11417 ft), near the
Swiss border. An observatory for cosmic ray physics and the physics of the Earth's atmosphere was also built near
Plateau Rosa and is now used as a
meteorological station run by the
Italian Air Force. After the
World War II, the first ski lifts were built around Breuil-Cervinia and Plan Maison. In 1952, again at the instigation of Dino Lora Totino, a new cable car was built from Plan Maison to
Furggen. It was a single-span cable car, and was so long that the designer had to take the curvature of the Earth into account when designing it. The cableway and its associated slope were so impervious that, following the death of several people who had fallen from the
Furggen, it was necessary to build a tunnel onto the mountain, which would make it easier for skiers and the operators of the
Società Cervino to descend to the glacier below, avoiding the more inexperienced skiers from having to use the more exposed part of the slope. Also in the 1950s, Breuil-Cervinia,
Plateau Rosa and the
Matterhorn were chosen by the
Italian Alpine Club and
Ardito Desio as locations to prepare the famous 1954
K2 expedition, which included
Achille Compagnoni and
Walter Bonatti. In 1961, the Plan Maison-Cime Bianche-Plateau Rosa cable car was replaced by a new system built by
Piemonte Funivie. In 1963, the Breuil-Plan Maison cable car, the first cable car to be built in Breuil-Cervinia, was replaced by a new, large cable car, and a second cable car was built next to it in order to double the hourly capacity of the ski lifts. In 1962, the "Lac Bleu" bobsleigh track was completed near the Lago Blu and inaugurated by
Olympic champion
Eugenio Monti. In 1972, the first two-seater chairlift was built at
Cielo Alto. The unification in 1982 with the
Valtournenche ski resort added prestige to Cervinia. In 1986, the
Breuil-Plan Maison 1 cable car was replaced by a 6-passenger gondola lift and in 1988, the long
Plan Maison-Laghi Cime Bianche gondola lift was opened. In 1991 the
Plateau Rosa cable car was replaced by a cable car with 140-passenger cabins. In 1993, the
Furggen cable car was closed and abandoned, as it was hardly used due to the wind and also heavily damaged in an accident. In the 2000s, the
Società Cervino encountered considerable financial difficulties and was unable to invest in the station. In 2006, thanks to regional funding, it was possible to build two modern chairlifts, called
Crétaz and
Campetto, to replace the old ski lifts. In 2008, increasing financial difficulties led the Cravetto family, the historic owners of the Breuil-Cervinia ski lifts, to decide to sell its majority shares in
Società Cervino. These were bought by the
Autonomous Region Aosta Valley (about 70%; the remaining 30% was managed by private individuals), and the company thus became public, like most of its
Aosta Valley counterparts operating in the sector. The first step of the new management towards modernisation was taken in 2009, with the inauguration of the
Pancheron hexapost chairlift. In 2012 the
Plateau Rosa cable car is renewed. Thanks to its rapid growth, Cervinia and its ski resort, as many other town on the
Alps like
Courmayeur,
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc,
Limone Piemonte,
Pila,
Sestriere,
Zermatt,
Sankt Moritz, became a field of
architectural and
engineering experimentation, trying to develop a new
alpine architecture and new technologies for buildings and lifts. Examples of this research are the Cielo Alto buildings, the Casa del Sole, the original
Refuge du Théodule, the Pirovano hut and, as far as ski lifts are concerned, the
Breuil-Plan Maison cable car and the Gran Baita hotel, the
Plateau Rosa cable car, the
Plan Maison - Monte Furggen cable car. The
architects who oversaw the urban development of the town include important names such as
Carlo Mollino, Francesco Dolza,
Giovanni Muzio,
Franco Albini and Mario Galvagni. == Economy ==