Thanks to its shape and its free-standing position, the Matterhorn is considered to be the epitome of a mountain. There is no better-known mountain in the world whose natural shape is so close to a pyramid. 100 million years ago, enormous forces brought Africa closer to Europe. 50 million years later, as the rock masses folded and deformed, the Matterhorn was born from the rock thrusting upwards.The Matterhorn is first mentioned in medieval documents as “Mons Silvus”. The name later mutated into “Mons Servinus” and “Mons Servin”, and finally became “Cervin” in French and “Cervino” in Italian. The Matterhorn was first referred to in writing as “Mont Cervin” in 1581, and later also as “Monte Silvio” and “Monte Servino”. The German name “Matterhorn” first appears in the year 1682. The name is probably derived from “Matte”, meaning meadow, referring to the grassy extended valley under the Gorner gorge, which has now been almost completely covered by the village of Zermatt (“zur Matt”). The mountain is also known by the locals as “ds Hore” (“the peak”, in Zermatt dialect) or “ds Horu” (in Upper Valais dialect).