Swiss borders have shifted under the Matterhorn, leaving one Italian lodge in a tricky situation. Photo / Stefano Venturini, Getty Images
Strange things are happening to borders in the European Alps.
Without any help, a two-story lodge has crossed the border into Switzerland.
Refugio Cervino, built on the Italian side of Theodul Glacier, has slowly been shifting towards its neighbours across the border.
The field of ice defines the boundary between Italy and Switzerland, or it used to. Now the location of the lodge, its ownership and even national boundaries are in dispute.
The two countries define their shared borderline as the boundary of the Theodul drainage divide, the point where meltwater flows south towards Italy or North towards Switzerland.
But in the warming mountains the glacier's retreat has changed the flow so that now two thirds of the lodge now sit across the border in Switzerland.
The Refugio has been the subject of diplomatic negotiations. According to Agence France Presse a compromise was reached last year to redraw the boundaries, but the glacier melt is only increasing.
Swisstopo, which keeps check of the official boundaries for the Confédération Helvétique, will be changing the boundaries next year.
"We agreed to split the difference," chief border official Alain Wicht told AFP.
However the new boundary may only be a stopgap as things heat up in the mountains.
While the Swiss diplomats took a neutral stance, Italy has been less blase about climate change eating away at its borders.
Over the past 50 years the Theodul Glacier has lost almost a quarter of its mass, forcing Italy and Switzerland to reassess a 100 metre length of border.
There have been incidents previously where international surveyors have had to be brought in to mediate the boundary. Nobody cares much about the loss or gain of parcels of rock and ice.
However, the position of the pensione has complicated the matter.
The Refugio Cervino is a sensitive issue, says Wicht, as the Theodul Glacier "is the only place where we suddenly had a building involved".
As a public building with considerable economic value for tourists, Italians are unwilling to walk away without compensation.
For now the refuge is an enclave of Italy within Switzerland.
"The refuge remains Italian because we have always been Italian," says caretaker Lucio Trucco. The 51-year-old steward of the mountain lodge refuses to budge on his position, continuing to serve Italian wine from Italian menus and pay Italian taxes.
When it was built it was entirely within Italian territory. Today it contains a restaurant, accommodation and a ski guide business.
The issues is further complicated by the opening of a new cable car from the Italian side of the Klein Matterhorn. From 2023 the ski fields, which are currently accessed from the Swiss town of Zermatt, will increase interest in the region.
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