Pilatus, also often referred to as Mount Pilatus, is a mountain massif overlooking

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

Central Switzerland Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine Foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug. Central Switzerland is one of the NUTS 2 Stat ...

. It is composed of several peaks, of which the highest () is named ''Tomlishorn''.

Geography and transport

The whole mountain range stretches at least from the Lopper just opposite from

Stansstad Stansstad is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland. Geography Stansstad has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 32.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 49.6% is forested. Of the rest of the la ...

to the east as far as at least to the Mittaggüpfi () and the ''Risetestock'' () to the west on the border between LU and OW. The highest peak, Tomlishorn (), and the other peaks, such as ''Widderfeld'' () even further west than the Tomlishorn on the border between LU and OW, ''Matthorn'' () to the south, the ''Klimsenhorn'' () to the north (UW), and ''Rosegg'' () and ''Windegg'' () to the east, both on the border of UW and OW, should only be approached with appropriate Alpine hiking equipment. Jurisdiction over the massif is divided between the cantons of Obwalden (OW), Nidwalden (NW), and Lucerne (LU). The main peaks are right on the border between Obwalden and Nidwalden. The top can be reached with the

Pilatus Railway The Pilatus Railway (german: Pilatusbahn, links=no, PB) is a mountain railway in Switzerland and the steepest rack railway in the world, with a maximum gradient of 48% and an average gradient of 35%. The line runs from Alpnachstad, on Lake Alpn ...

, the world's steepest cogwheel railway, from

Alpnachstad Alpnach is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. It comprises the villages of Alpnach Dorf, Alpnachstad and Schoried. History Alpnach is first mentioned about 870 as ''Alpenacho''. Geography Alpnach has an area, , of . Of this ...

, operating from May to November (depending on snow conditions) and the whole year with the aerial panorama gondolas and aerial

cableway Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by driv ...

s from

Kriens Kriens is a city and a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. The municipality lies at the foot of the mountain Pilatus, and is a western suburb of Lucerne. History In the oldest documents of the Benedic ...

. ''Tomlishorn'' is located about to the southeast of the top cable car and cog railway station. Two other peaks, closer to the stations are called ''Esel'' (''Donkey'', ), which lies just east over the railway station, the one on the west side is called ''Oberhaupt'' (''Head-Leader'', ). During the summer, the "Golden Round Trip" — a popular route for tourists — involves taking a boat from Lucerne across

Lake Lucerne __NOTOC__ Lake Lucerne (german: Vierwaldstättersee, literally "Lake of the four forested settlements" (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), french: lac des Quatre-Cantons, it, lago dei Quattro Cantoni) is a lake in central S ...

to Alpnachstad, going up on the cogwheel railway, coming down on the aerial cableways and panorama gondolas, and taking a bus back to Lucerne.

History

A few different local legends about the origin of the name exist. One claims that Pilatus was named so because

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of ...

was buried there. However, a similar legend is told of

Monte Vettore Monte Vettore (from Latin ''Vector'', "carrier", "leader") is a mountain of the Umbro-marchigiano Apennine Mountains in Italy. It is the highest peak of the Sibillini massif. It is located in Ascoli piceno, Marche, Italy. Geography The sout ...

in Italy. Another is that the mountain looks like the belly of a large man, Pilate, lying on his back and was thus named for him. The name may also be derived from "pileatus," meaning "cloud-topped." Numbered amongst those who have reached its summit are

Conrad Gessner Conrad Gessner (; la, Conradus Gesnerus 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his tale ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...

(1804),

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

and

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

(1867). The cog railway opened in 1889. The mountain has fortified radar (part of the Swiss

FLORAKO FLORAKO is a Swiss radar system for military and civil aviation. The acronym stands for FLORIDA radar replacement air radar system capable communication system (in German: FLORIDA Radarersatz Radarluftlagesystem Kommunikationssystem) in the initia ...

system) and weather stations on the Oberhaupt summit, not open to the public view and used all year round. File:Pilatus Mountain.jpg, Pilatus mountain seen from Gisikon Root File:View of Mount Pilatus from Pilatus Railway 02.jpg, Top of mountain from partway up File:PilatusNearLucernFromAbove.jpg, A view of the Hotel and Restaurant, the cog railway top station, and the ''Esel'' peak in the back File:Human_structures_on_top_of_Mount_Pilatus.jpg, Hotel and Restaurant from opposite side File:ViewFromPilatus.jpg, A view from the mountain in winter (March 2006) File:Panoramic_view_from_the_top_of_Mount_Pilatus.jpg, Panoramic view from the top File:Cows_on_Mount_Pilatus_03.jpg, Cows with other mountain in background File:Mount_Pilatus_cableway_from_top_of_mountain.jpg, Cable car descending File:Adult_and_baby_ibexes_on_Mount_Pilatus_01.jpg,

Ibex An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa ...

family near summit File:Mtpilatusfromtrain.jpg, A view from the cog-wheel railway File:Church_near_top_of_Mount_Pilatus.jpg, Chapel on Pilatus File:Pilatus_cableway.jpg, Cableway File:Paraglider_taking_off_at_top_of_Mount_Pilatus.jpg,

Paraglider Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like ...

taking off from summit File:Pilatus seen from Stanserhorn funicular.jpg, Pilatus seen from

Stanserhorn The Stanserhorn is a mountain in Switzerland, located in the canton of Nidwalden near to the border with Obwalden, with the peak at above sea level. It is a popular tourist destination, which can be reached from the adjacent town of Stans ...

funicular File:Pilatus und Alpnachersee.jpg, Pilatus with the Alpnachersee below seen from Stanserhorn File:Mount_Pilatus_in_the_distance_at_Hergiswil_Matt_railway_station.jpg, Pilatus in the distance at

Hergiswil Matt railway station Hergiswil Matt railway station is a Swiss railway station in the municipality of Hergiswil in the canton of Nidwalden. It is on the Brünig line of the Zentralbahn railway company, which links Lucerne and Interlaken, and is also used by trains ...

Weather

In literature

In ''The

Chalet School The Chalet School is a series of 64 school story novels by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, initially published between 1925 and 1970. The fictional school was initially located in the Austrian Tyrol, before it was moved to Guernsey in 1939 following the ...

Does It Again''. (1955)

Elinor Brent-Dyer Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (6 April 1894 – 20 September 1969) was an English writer of children's literature who wrote more than one hundred books during her lifetime, the most famous being the ''Chalet School'' series. Early life and education Br ...

retells the Pilate burial place legend. Mount Pilatus plays a pivotal role in the conclusion of

Brad Thor Bradley George Thor Jr. (born August 21, 1969) is an American thriller novelist. He is the author of '' The Lions of Lucerne'', '' The First Commandment'', '' The Last Patriot'', and other novels. His latest novel in the Harvath series, ''Rising ...

's fiction novel ''Lions of Lucerne''.

References

External links