Simplon Pass

<h2 id="history">History</h2>

<p>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 <a href="/facts/Napoleon/8TKBIjPM">the emperor</a> in order to transport artillery pieces through the pass between the <a href="/facts/River_Rh%25C3%25B4ne/529GangA">Rhône</a> valley and <a href="/facts/Italy/tUf0PDYF">Italy</a>. Since then, the pass has been usable by road vehicles: first <a href="/facts/Stage_coach/E3c9H7gd">post carriages</a>, replaced early in the twentieth century by <a href="/facts/Postauto/2RbC3ELC">post buses</a>.
</p><p>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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> 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 <a href="/facts/Post_bus/o6SYEnU9">post buses</a> used for local passengers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> 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 37 km (23 mi) of the 42.5 km (26.4 mi) between <a href="/facts/Brig%2c_Switzerland/Ez2xSkcs">Brig</a> in <a href="/facts/Valais/q0A9bsP5">Valais</a> and the Italian frontier at <a href="/facts/Gondo_(Switzerland)/8W64UT87">Gondo</a>, 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> The former <a href="/facts/Simplon_(d%25C3%25A9partement)/ctsBWeYt">Simplon département</a> (the Swiss canton <a href="/facts/Valais/q0A9bsP5">Valais</a>) was named after the pass.
</p><p>The Simplon Pass was also outfitted with rails for train service. The 20 km (12 mi)-long <a href="/facts/Simplon_Tunnel/PzfzzJas">Simplon Tunnel</a> was opened in 1906. The historic <a href="/facts/Orient_Express/pjfLGCsm">Orient Express</a> used the Simplon route intermittently during the twentieth century, as it carried passengers between <a href="/facts/Istanbul/Xo1hzGWH">Istanbul</a> and <a href="/facts/Paris/DrNHpwnA">Paris</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p><p>The <a href="/facts/Simplon_Hospice/a8dGsNbG"><i>Hospice du Simplon</i></a>, at the top of the pass, is owned by the Congregation of Canons Regular at Grand-Saint-Bernard.
</p>
<h2 id="monuments">Monuments</h2>

<p>During the <a href="/facts/Second_World_War/2efV5L1U">Second World War</a>, officers of the 11th Alpine Brigade of the <a href="/facts/Swiss_Army/9z8PofPN">Swiss Army</a>, based in Zwischbergen, proposed the construction of the stone monument <a href="/facts/Erwin_Friedrich_Baumann/11sQpfWb">depicting an eagle</a>, the symbol of the brigade. The Bernese architect <a href="/facts/Erwin_Friedrich_Baumann/11sQpfWb">Erwin Friedrich Baumann</a> designed the monument based on the use of granite blocks from the old fortification of <a href="/facts/Gondo_(Switzerland)/8W64UT87">Gondo</a> (a town near the pass) to build a statue about nine meters high. The monument was inaugurated in September 1944.
</p><p>In 2005, a memorial was built representing the 200th anniversary of the construction of the "Napoleon Road".
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>Alps portal</li></ul>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Val_Divedro/wpBNKXh8">Val Divedro</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_highest_paved_roads_in_Europe/nc5pXy0P">List of highest paved roads in Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_mountain_passes/ayV64Vqa">List of mountain passes</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_the_highest_Swiss_passes/0eXMfLuh">List of the highest Swiss passes</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="picture">Picture</h2>
Panoramic view of the Simplon pass
<h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2>

<h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Nicola_Pfund/xtKCrGAE">Nicola Pfund</a>, <i>Sui passi in bicicletta - Swiss Alpine passes by bicycle</i>, Fontana Edizioni, 2012, p. 122-127. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-88-8191-281-0</li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simplonpass.

<ul><li><a href="/facts/W._A._B._Coolidge/yVa3tHxl">Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort</a> (1911). <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Simplon_Pass">"Simplon Pass" </a>. <i><a href="/facts/Encyclop%25C3%25A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition/mPElbCRY">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). p. 135.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?Col=Simplon%20Pass%20&qryMountainID=5591">Profile on climbbybike.com</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Finsteraarhorn peakbagger.com <a href="http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=9967" target="_blank">http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=9967</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Simplon Pass: Always Open: Switzerland spends 180 million francs to keep the famous Alpine crossing in year-long use". Autocar. 134 (nbr 3902): 38–39. 7 January 1971. <a href="/wiki/Autocar_(magazine)" target="_blank">/wiki/Autocar_(magazine)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Simplon Pass: Always Open: Switzerland spends 180 million francs to keep the famous Alpine crossing in year-long use". Autocar. 134 (nbr 3902): 38–39. 7 January 1971. <a href="/wiki/Autocar_(magazine)" target="_blank">/wiki/Autocar_(magazine)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"Simplon Pass: Always Open: Switzerland spends 180 million francs to keep the famous Alpine crossing in year-long use". Autocar. 134 (nbr 3902): 38–39. 7 January 1971. <a href="/wiki/Autocar_(magazine)" target="_blank">/wiki/Autocar_(magazine)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Smith, Mark. "A history of the Orient Express". Seat Sixty One. www.seat61.com. Retrieved 2013-03-13. <a href="https://www.seat61.com/OrientExpress.htm#.UUAFExw9TTo" target="_blank">https://www.seat61.com/OrientExpress.htm#.UUAFExw9TTo</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Simplon Pass open-in-new

Simplon Pass