Great St Bernard Pass
The Great Saint Bernard (. It. Colle del Gran San Bernardo, fr Col du Grand Saint -Bernard, outdated Mons Jovis or Mont -Joux ) is a pass in the Valais Alps, the Rhone valley in the Swiss canton of Valais at an altitude 2,469 m with the Aosta Valley and further connects with the Italian region of Piedmont.
History
Until the Middle Ages
The pass was committed despite the large amount since the early Iron Age, as finds along the access road to the north occupy. At the times of the Roman Empire, he was one of the most important Alpine passes. First mentioned by name, he is by Julius Caesar in De Bello Gallico III, 1 Then, other Greek and Roman authors were added as Livy (Ab urbe condita V, 35, 2) and Strabo (IV, 6, 7). Until the expansion as a carriage road under Emperor Claudius however, he was only a mule track. Its great importance in Roman times is primarily due to the direct connection of northern Italy to Gaul to the Rhine, with no bad impassable gorges difficult at the entrances to the passage, such as the Gotthard pass.
At the summit was in Roman times a temple in which the indigenous ( Celtic ) God Poeninus was worshiped, was equated by the Romans with Jupiter Optimus Maximus in the sense of interpretatio romana. In the Middle Ages the pass accordingly as Mont -Joux (mons Iovis ) was called.
The pass was next to his importance for trips of secular and ecclesiastical dignitaries, as well as merchants and crusaders from the north to northern Italy and central part of there bundled and then branching network of pilgrim routes from the Frankish Empire and its successor states to Rome (via francigena, German: Frankenweg ). In particular, he mentioned the Serious of Canterbury in 994 also in the detailed itinerary of Archbishop Sigerich.
In 1050 the hospital was built on the Great Saint Bernard Pass on the pass from Bernard of Aosta, which gave its name to the present pass. Here the Saint Bernard dog breed was bred as a rescue dog to search for avalanche victims, and especially by Barry, who is said to have saved the lives of over 40 people, made known worldwide.
Modern Times
On May 14, early 1800s crossed the Alps Napoleon Bonaparte on his train to Italy. That also Hannibal crossed the Alps, is today considered unlikely.
From 1940 to the 1990s, made the pass the southwestern boundary point of the Swiss redoubt, the approaches on the Swiss side were accordingly secured by terrain obstacles and barriers against potential attackers and were also inhibited by artillery.
For a long time the road was passable only in summer. Since 1964, the route is all year shortened by the 5.85 km long toll the Great St. Bernard Tunnel.