Bisalta

The Bisalta, also known as Besimauda, is a mountain of Piedmont, Italy. It is part of the Ligurian Alps and has an elevation of 2231 m.

The mountain is located between the Pesio valley and the smaller valleys of the Colla and Josina rivers, in the territory of Boves and Peveragno, in the Province of Cuneo. It has two peaks (the main one 2,231 meters above sea level, the subpeak 2,018 meters above sea level), from which it derives its name ("bis alta", "twice high"). Both the main peak and the subpeak have a summit cross. Due to its location the Bisalta is an exceptional panoramic point, allowing to see even the Ligurian Sea in particularly clear days.

In the 19th century, the Bisalta was climbed by mountaineers such as Douglas Freshfield and W. A. B. Coolidge. During the Second World War, it became a base for Italian partisan groups (Boves massacre). In the 1950s Felice Ippolito carried out prospections in the search of uranium, and in July 1960 a lightning killed four people when it hit the summit cross during a religious ceremony.

The name Bisalta is sometimes used to refer to the entire massif formed by the Bisalta proper and the nearby Bric Costa Rossa.