The Simplon Pass (french: Col du Simplon; german: Simplonpass; it, Passo del Sempione, Lombard: ''Pass del Sempiün'') () is a high mountain pass between the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Ital ...

and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

in the canton of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...

with Domodossola in Piedmont ( Italy). The pass itself and the villages on each side of it, such as Gondo, are in Switzerland. The Simplon Tunnel was built beneath the vicinity of the pass in the early 20th century to carry rail traffic between the two countries. The lowest point of the

col In geomorphology, a col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 103. . It may also be called a gap. Particularly rugged and forbidding col ...

, and the lowest point on the watershed between the basins of the Rhone and the Po in Switzerland lies in marshland about west of the Simplon Pass settlement at an altitude of .Finsteraarhorn
peakbagger.com

Rotelsee __NOTOC__ Rotelsee is a lake near Simplon Pass in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. References Rotel Rotel is a family-owned Japanese manufacturer of hi-fi audio and video equipment: home theater, amplifiers, compact disc players, etc. ...

is a lake located near the pass at an elevation of . There are several high peaks around that can be climbed directly from the pass. These include Wasenhorn, Hubschhorn, Breithorn (Simplon), and

Monte Leone Monte Leone is the highest mountain of the Lepontine Alps and is located on the border between Switzerland and Italy. The mountain stands on the extreme west of the Lepontine Alps, a few kilometres east of Simplon Pass. Etymology ''Leone'' i ...

History

There had been a locally used passage through the mountains here for several centuries, but the pass acquired international significance during the Napoleonic occupation. Between 1801 and 1805 the Simplon Road was constructed by the engineer Nicolas Céard at the direction of the emperor in order to transport artillery pieces through the pass between the Rhône valley and Italy. Since then, the pass has been usable by road vehicles: first post carriages, replaced early in the twentieth century by post buses. The road was periodically improved and in 1950 the cantonal authorities created a plan whereby the pass could be kept open all through the year, and not closed to traffic between October and late April like most Alpine passes at this altitude. The improvements included several lengthy avalanche shelters along the more exposed stretches of road and the expansion of certain road tunnels to accommodate full size tourist coaches which were significantly taller than the

post bus A postbus is a public bus service that is operated as part of local mail delivery as a means of providing public transport in rural areas with lower levels of patronage, where a normal bus service would be uneconomic or inefficient. Postbus serv ...

es used for local passengers. In October 1970, a party of journalists was invited to inspect the improvements and it was announced that the necessary improvements had been implemented on of the between

and the Italian frontier at Gondo, that 110 of the 180 million Swiss francs budgeted to the project had been spent and that, while a further five years would be needed to complete all the projected improvements, the Simplon Pass could now be used safely all through the year. The former Simplon département (the Swiss canton

) was named after the pass. The Simplon Pass was also outfitted with rails for train service. The -long Simplon Tunnel was opened in 1906. The historic

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe and int ...

used the Simplon route intermittently during the twentieth century, as it carried passengers between Istanbul and Paris. The Hospice du Simplon, at the top of the pass, is owned by the Congregation of Canons Regular at Grand-Saint-Bernard.

Monuments

During the Second World War, officers of the 11th Alpine Brigade of the Swiss Army, based in Zwischbergen, proposed the construction of the stone monument depicting an eagle, the symbol of the brigade. The Bernese architect Erwin Friedrich Baumann designed the monument based on the use of granite blocks from the old fortification of Gondo (a town near the pass) to build a statue about nine meters high. The monument was inaugurated in September 1944. In 2005, a memorial was built representing the 200th anniversary of the construction of the "Napoleon Road".

Picture

Gallery

Säumer am Simplonpass 2020.jpg, Pack animal on Simplon pass 2020 Fletschhorn Mai 2020.jpg, Mount Fletschhorn seen from Simplon pass Rotelsee im Sommer.jpg,

on Simplon Pass Simplonpass im Wallis (Schweiz).jpg, Col du Simplon 20130817165 Simplon Pass - Simplon Dorf IMG 4574.JPG , Scenery of the area Napoleon Stützmauer und Hotel Simplon-Blick, Simplonpass (Schweiz).jpg, Retaining wall from ''Napoleon Road'' on summit of pass

Bibliography

Nicola Pfund Nicola Pfund (born November 7, 1960 in Sorengo) is a Swiss Italian writer, blogger and journalist. Biography He is a native of Canton Schaffhausen, but he was born in Sorengo (Canton Ticino). After studying at a teacher-training college, Pfund ...

, ''Sui passi in bicicletta - Swiss Alpine passes by bicycle'', Fontana Edizioni, 2012, p. 122-127.

References

External links

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Profile on climbbybike.com
{{Authority control Mountain passes of Valais Mountain passes of the Alps Lepontine Alps