Церматт: Альпийский курорт у подножия Маттерхорна

Place in Valais, Switzerland

Zermatt (, ) is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). It lies at the upper end of Mattertal at an elevation of , at the foot of Switzerland's highest peaks. It lies about from the over high Theodul Pass bordering Italy. Zermatt is the southernmost commune of the German Sprachraum. Zermatt is famed as a mountaineering and ski resort of the Swiss Alps. Until the mid 19th century, it was predominantly an agricultural community; the first and tragic ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 was followed by a rush on the mountains surrounding the village, leading to the construction of many tourist facilities. The year round population is , though there may be several times as many tourists in Zermatt at any one time. Much of the local economy is based on tourism, with about half of the jobs in town in hotels or restaurants The Romand speaking people from the Aosta Valley and from the Romand speaking part of canton Wallis (Valais) used this name until about 1860 in the form of Praborne, or Praborgne. The reason of this change from Praborno to Zermatt is attributed to the gradual replacement of the Romance speaking people by German speaking colony.

The town of Zermatt lies at the southern end of the Matter Valley (German: Mattertal), which is one of the lateral branches of the grand Valley of the Rhône. Zermatt is almost completely surrounded by the high mountains of the Pennine Alps including Monte Rosa (specifically its tallest peak, named Dufourspitze), Switzerland's highest peak at above sea level. It is followed by the Dom , Liskamm , Weisshorn and the Matterhorn Most of the Alpine four thousanders are located around Zermatt or in the neighbouring valleys. Zermatt is traversed by the main river of the valley: the Matter Vispa, which rises at the glaciers at the feet of the highest peaks: the Gorner Glacier on the east side near Monte Rosa and the Zmutt Glacier on the west side between Dent d'Hérens and Dent Blanche. The town of Zermatt, while dense, is geographically small. There are three main streets which run along the banks of the Matter Vispa, and numerous cross streets, especially around the station and the church which forms the centre of Zermatt. In general anything is at most a thirty minute walk away. There are several "suburbs" within Zermatt. Winkelmatten/Moos, which was once a separate hamlet, lies on a hill on the southern side. Steinmatten is located on the eastern bank of the main river. Many hamlets are located in the valleys above Zermatt, however they are not usually inhabited all year round. Zum See lies south of Zermatt on the west bank of the Gorner gorge, near Furi where a cable car station is located On the side of Zmutt valley (west of Zermatt) lies the hamlet of Zmutt , north of the creek Zmuttbach. Findeln is located in the eastern valley above the creek Findelbach. It lies below the Sunnegga station Located near a train station of the Gornergratbahn, Riffelalp is one of the highest hamlets with a chapel. Zermatt had an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of Of this area, about 9.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and 85.2% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85 2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by and the agricultural land has decreased by .

Zermatt has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfc). Summertime is cool in Zermatt, with mild days and cool nights, while winter is cold and snowy, with highs around freezing and annual snowfall averaging .

The village was "discovered" by mid nineteenth century British mountaineers, most notably Edward Whymper, whose summit of the Matterhorn made the village famous. The Matterhorn was one of the last alpine mountains to be summitted (in 1865), and the first expedition that reached the top ended dramatically with only 3 of the 7 climbers surviving the descent. The story is related in the Matterhorn Museum. Zermatt is a starting point for hikes into the mountains, including the Haute Route that leads to Chamonix in France and the Patrouille des Glaciers. Cable cars and chair lifts carry skiers in the winter and hikers in the summer; the highest of them leads to the Klein Matterhorn at , a peak on the ridge between Breithorn and Matterhorn that offers extensive views in all directions. It is possible to cross into Italy via the Cervinia cable car station. A rack railway line (the Gornergratbahn, the highest open air railway in Europe) runs up to the summit of the Gornergrat at Zermatt is also the western terminus for the Glacier Express rail service connecting to St. Moritz and the MGB (Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn). Together with eleven other towns Zermatt is a member of the community Best of the Alps.

To prevent air pollution that could obscure the town's view of the Matterhorn, the entire town is a combustion engine car free zone. Almost all vehicles in Zermatt are battery driven and almost completely silent. Electric vehicles are allowed for local commerce. The Cantonal police can issue a permit which allows residents to drive and park at the northern outskirts and for the permission to bring combustion engine vehicles in to the town such as construction vehicles. Emergency and municipal vehicles, (fire trucks, ambulances, police etc.) generally use combustion engines, although even some of these are non combustion (garbage trucks, etc.). Passenger vehicles operating within Zermatt include small electric shuttles provided by hotels to carry visitors from the main train station (or the taxi transfer point just outside town) to the hotel properties, "electro" taxis operated by four major Zermatt families, and "electro" buses, which serve two routes: one between the major hotel areas and the stations of the various ski lifts, and the other following a similar route but also serving the more rural "suburb" of Winkelmatten. Horse drawn carriages can also be found; some are operated by hotels and others are available for hire. Most visitors reach Zermatt by the rack assisted railway train from the nearby town of Täsch (Zermatt shuttle). Trains also depart for Zermatt from farther down the valley at Visp and Brig, which are on the main Swiss rail network. The town also has a heliport (ICAO: LSEZ) and a local helicopter operator, Air Zermatt, which also provides alpine rescue services. In 2007, a project group was formed to evaluate options for development of the local transportation network (as the "electro" buses do not have enough capacity). The results of this study are published in the December 2007 edition of Zermatt Inside. The six options explored are a coaster, a funicular, a metro, moving sidewalks, a gondola and more "electro" buses. In 2019 work started to improve access on the Kirchbrücke – one of the most popular places to photograph the Matterhorn. The viewing area will be widened to keep tourists off the road and away from electric vehicles. The project should be complete by autumn 2019. The nearest airports that international air travelers to Zermatt can avail of from Switzerland are Sion Airport (SIR), which is 85 km away from the resort, Zurich Airport (ZRH), around 250 km away, and Geneva Airport (GVA), also 250 km away. Other nearby airports in Italy include Milan Malpensa (MXP), with a distance of around 180 km from Zermatt, and Milan Linate (LIN), almost 255 km away. The airports of Zurich, Geneva, and Milan Malpensa, are the biggest and best prepared to greet international air travelers to Zermatt.

Zermatt is known throughout the world for its skiing, especially Triftji for its moguls. The high altitude results in consistent skiing continuously throughout the summer. Skiing in Zermatt is split up into four areas: Sunnegga, Gornergrat, Klein Matterhorn and Schwarzsee. There is also a connection to Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy through the Plateau Rosa glacier. In 2008, Zermatt hosted an "Infinity Downhill Race". The race took place on 13 and 14 December and comprised a course descending from the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise and finished in Zermatt itself The course was long and featured a descent.

The Sunnegga Paradise is accessed via the SunneggaExpress funicular railway, followed by a gondola to Blauherd and finally a cable car onwards to the Rothorn (3,103 m) above. The topography of the mountain and the valley tends to keep the Rothorn clear and sunny, even when Zermatt is submerged in cloud. From Blauherd there is a gondola down to Gant, and from there a connecting cablecar goes to Hohtälli. This cable car and the newer 4 seat chairlift Sunnegga Findeln Breitboden provide connections between Sunnegga and Gornergrat. With few steep slopes, this mountain is often used to train younger skiers.

The Gornergrat is served by the Gornergrat railway, a 29 minute ride to the Gornergrat peak (3,089 m), via Riffelalp, Rotenboden and Riffelberg, (with limited stops at Findelbach and Landtunnel just above Zermatt). At the summit, the hotel and restaurant have been refurbished and accommodate a shopping centre. Riffelalp station is linked to Riffelalp Resort by a short tramway line named Riffelalptram. A cable car heads up from Hohtälli to the Rote Nase (3,247 m). This final lift serves a freeride area but can be unreliable as this mountainside requires good snow cover to be skiable. The lifts in this area generally open for the season in late February or early March – cablecar is now permanently closed, with no replacement lift planned. A new slope leading back from Hohtälli to Kellensee just under the Gornergrat replaced this lift to maintain the link from the Rothorn to Gornergrat.

Near the southern end of Zermatt, the Matterhorn Express gondola transports passengers up to the interchange station at Furi. From here there is access to Schwarzsee via a gondola to the right, a cable car that leads on to the Trockener Steg midstation (and then on to the Klein Matterhorn); and a new gondola, opened on 18 December 2006, links Furi to Riffelberg on the Gornergrat mountain. This lift addresses one of the most persistent criticisms of Zermatt: that it is very difficult to ski the two sides of the valley without a tiresome trek through Zermatt between the Gornergratbahn and the Matterhorn Express at opposite ends of the town. Testa Grigia at the top of the Theodul Pass serves as a connection to the Italian ski resorts of Cervinia and Valtournenche. From the Swiss side it is reachable by skilift only, but from the Italian side by a chairlift and by a cablecar. In March 2019 it was announced that a new lift – the 'Alpine Crossing' – will connect Testa Grigia and Klein Matterhorn from spring 2021. There are customs offices here as well as a small alpine museum. Zermatt is marketed as an all year skiing resort, with summer skiing limited to the Theodul Glacier behind the Klein Matterhorn. Whilst strictly true, during the off season in May and June there will tend to be only one or two runs open, and the main glacier area does not open until July. In operation since 25 October 2003, the Furggsattel six seater chairlift has twelve (of eighteen) masts that stand directly on the glacial ice of the Theodul Glacier – a first for Switzerland. The new CHF52 million 3S Glacier Ride Cable Car from the resort to Klein Matterhorn was opened on 29 September 2018. It has an uplift capacity of 2000 people per hour and takes just 9 minutes to reach the top using 25 cabins, each with 28 seats.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a lion rampant Or langued of the first on a trimount Vert between two mullets of five Argent in chief.

Zermatt has a population of as of 2013, 39.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 3 years (2010 2013) the population has changed at a rate of 0.54%. The birth rate in the municipality, in 2013, was 9.5 while the death rate was 4.9 per thousand residents. Of the population in the municipality, 2,214 or about 37.0% were born in Zermatt and lived there in 2000. There were 720 or 12.0% who were born in the same canton, while 774 or 12.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,039 or 34.1% were born outside of Switzerland. as of 2000, there were 2,441 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. There were 921 households that consist of only one person and 128 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 2,167 apartments (52.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,890 apartments (45.4%) were seasonally occupied and 103 apartments (2.5%) were empty. Of the 977 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 22.8% were single family homes and 45.5% were multiple family buildings. Additionally, about 10.8% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 14.4% were built between 1991 and 2000. In 2012 the rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 13.65. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2014, was 0.28%.

The petroglyphs and prehistoric grinding stone at Hubelwäng is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the CVP with 43.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (33.3%), the FDP (14.1%) and the SP (4.1%). In the federal election, a total of 1378 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 48.1%. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 68.98% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (19.61%), the SP (6.3%) and the FDP (3.51%). In the federal election, a total of 1,326 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.0%. In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 1,009 votes were cast, of which 66 or about 6.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 34.4%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 1,289 votes were cast, of which 105 or about 8.1% were invalid. The voter participation was 45.4%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 59.88%.

In Zermatt about 1,988 or (33.2%) of the population have completed non mandatory upper secondary education, and 470 or (7.8%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 470 who completed tertiary schooling, 51.1% were Swiss men, 21.1% were Swiss women, 14.0% were non Swiss men and 13.8% were non Swiss women. During that school year, there 6 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 106 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Zermatt there were a total of 24 classes and 458 students in the primary school. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 219 lower secondary students who attended school in Zermatt. All the upper secondary students attended school in another municipality. as of 2000, there were 98 students in Zermatt who came from another municipality, while 23 residents attended schools outside the municipality.