Valtournenche in the context of Châtillon, Aosta Valley

Breuil-Cervinia (French: Breuil; Italian: Cervinia; Valdôtain: Breuill), officially Le Breuil from September 2023, is a frazione of the comune of Valtournenche, Italy. It is a winter and summer tourist resort.

The first ascent of the Matterhorn was a mountaineering expedition of the Matterhorn made by Edward Whymper, Lord Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow, Michel Croz, and two Zermatt guides, Peter Taugwalder and his son of the same name, on 14 July 1865. Douglas, Hudson, Hadow and Croz were killed on the descent when Hadow slipped and pulled the other three with him down the north face. Whymper and the Taugwalder guides, who survived, were later accused of having cut the rope below to ensure that they were not dragged down with the others, but the subsequent inquiry found no evidence of this and they were acquitted.

The ascent followed a long series of usually separate attempts by Edward Whymper and Jean-Antoine Carrel to reach the summit. Carrel's group had been 200 m below the summit on the Italian side when Croz and Whymper summited. The climbers from Valtournenche withdrew deflated, but three days later Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich reached the summit without incident. The Matterhorn was the last great Alpine peak to be climbed and its first ascent marked the end of the golden age of alpinism.

45°58′36″N 7°39′26″E / 45.97667°N 7.65722°E / 45.97667; 7.65722

The second ascent of the Matterhorn was accomplished in July 1865, only three days after the successful (with 4 fatalities) expedition led by Edward Whymper on the Zermatt side. The second was effected on the Italian side by Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich with the abbé Amé Gorret and Jean-Augustin Meynet who followed them near to the summit. The party started from Breuil on 16 July and reached the top the following day.