Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy, which is located in the northwestern part of the country and it’s one of Italy’s biggest naturals hubs with mountains, passes and valleys, forests, lakes and rivers, and much more.
Lombardy is also home to a large section of the Alps as well as numerous nature parks and reserves with amazing recreational facilities.
There are 3,451 named mountains in Lombardy, the highest of which is La Spedla (4,020 m / 13,188 ft) and the most prominent of which is Pizzo di Coca (3,050 m / 10,006 ft).
Outdoor writer from the Dolomites, Italy, and Karelia, Finland
— The name of the region of Lombardy comes from the Latin word Longobardus. According to popular accounts, the word Longobardus itself translated into English means “long beard.” This is what the region’s inhabitants called the Germanic peoples who came to the area from the Elbe River Valley in northern Germany and the historic province of Scania in southern Sweden.
The Lombards invaded what is now Italy when it was mostly controlled by the Byzantine Empire. By about 568, the Lombards ruled over almost all of what is now Italy with the exception of Rome, Venice, and some southern territories throughout the early Middle Ages. The Lombards effectively lost control over much of their territory by 774.
As is the case throughout most of Italy, modern Lombards primarily call themselves Lombards, not Italians. This means they identify themselves primarily with their native region and even its individual provinces, rather than with the whole country. This is perhaps an understandable tradition, because the modern state of Italy first appeared on political maps very recently in 1861 as the Kingdom of Italy.
Read next my outdoor guide to the region of Lombardy in Italy on the website of the PeakVisor app — leading AR (augmented reality) app for mountain peaks identification with tens of other great features for outdoor enthusiasts.
Text: Ivan Kuznetsov
Cover photo: the author of the guide winter hiking in Imagna Valley (Val Imagna) in the province of Bergamo in the Lombardy region in Italy © Irina Kudres
