Stelvio (Stilfserjoch)

Created in 1935 under Fascist Italy as a grand alpine park of national prestige, Stelvio protects an extensive system of glaciers and high mountains between Lombardy and South Tyrol. It is crossed by the Stelvio Pass, a road of 48 hairpin bends originally built in the 19th century by the Austro-Hungarian Empire for military purposes and now reckoned one of the most spectacular — and most demanding to drive or cycle — mountain routes in Europe.