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Mont Cenis ( it, Moncenisio) is a
massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
(el. 3,612 m / 11,850 ft at
Pointe de Ronce Pointe de Ronce is a mountain of Savoie, France. It lies in the Mont Cenis range. It has an elevation of above sea level. Features It is located near the Mont Cenis Pass and overlooks the village of Lanslebourg in Haute-Maurienne. A wide circus, ...
) and a
pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mounta ...
(el. 2,085 m / 6,840 ft) in
Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population ...
(
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
), which forms the limit between the Cottian and Graian Alps.


Route

The term "Mont Cenis" could derive from ''mont des cendres'' ("mountain of ashes"). According to tradition, following a forest fire, a great quantity of ashes accumulated on the ground, thus the name. The path of ashes was found during the building work of the route. The pass connects
Val-Cenis Val-Cenis is a commune in the department of Savoie, southeastern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Termignon (the seat), Bramans, Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis, Lanslevillard and Sollières ...
in France in the northwest with
Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo- Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...
in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in the southeast. Thence the valley of the
Dora Riparia The Dora Riparia (; pms, Dòira Rivaira; french: Doire Ripaire or ''Doire''; la, Duria minor) is an alpine river, a left-hand tributary of the Po. It is long (of which 5 km in France), with a drainage basin. It originates in the Cottia ...
is followed to
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
(103.8 km / 64.5 mi from Modane). The carriage road mounts the Arc valley for 25.7 km / 16 mi from Modane to
Lanslebourg Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Val-Cenis.Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo- Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...
(49.9 km / 37 mi from Modane) where the road joins the railway. To the southwest of the Mont Cenis is the Little Mont Cenis (2184.2 m / 7166 ft) which leads from the summit plateau (in Italy) of the main pass to the Etache valley on the French slope and so to Bramans in the Arc valley. The pass runs parallel to the Fréjus Rail Tunnel. This (highest point 1295 m / 4249 ft) is really 27.4 km 17 miles southwest of the pass, below the
Col du Fréjus Col du Fréjus (el. 2,542 metres) is a mountain col road in the Cottian Alps on the border between France and Italy. It connects Bardonecchia, Italy to Modane, France. The road over the mountain pass is not paved and limited to walking traff ...
. From
Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chamb ...
the line runs up the
Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Arc or the
Maurienne Maurienne ( frp, Môrièna) is one of the provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Location The Mau ...
past Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to
Modane Modane (; ) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. The commune is in the Maurienne Valley, and it also belongs to the Vanoise National Park. It was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia unti ...
(98.2 km / 61 mi from Chambéry). The tunnel is 13 km in length, and leads to
Bardonecchia Bardonecchia (; french: Bardonèche or ; pms, Bardonecia ; oc, Bardonescha ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Piedmont region, in the western part of Susa Valley. It grew out of a small village ...
, some way below which, at Oulx the line joins the road from the
Col de Montgenèvre The Col de Montgenèvre (; elevation 1860 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Cottian Alps, in France 2 kilometres away from Italy. Description The pass takes its name from the village Montgenèvre (Hautes-Alpes), which lies in the vicinity ...
.


History

In the Middle Ages, pilgrims passing through Moncenisio and
Susa Valley The Susa Valley ( it, Val di Susa; pms, Valsusa; french: Val de Suse; oc, Val d'Ors) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the so ...
came to
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
along a road called the Via Francigena, with a final destination of Rome. In 1414,
Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara Niccolò III d'Este (9 November 1383 – 26 December 1441) was Marquess of Ferrara from 1393 until his death. He was also a condottiero. Biography Born in Ferrara, the son of Alberto d'Este and Isotta Albaresani, he inherited the rule of t ...
travelled on this route returning from Paris having met Charles VI, and described the Col du Mont Cenis as having "a good ascent and bad descent". This pass was crossed in 1689 by the Vaudois, and is believed by some authors to have been the pass used by Hannibal to cross the Alps. As an Alpine pass, Mont Cenis featured in several historical incidents. One example is the descent of
Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
to Italy, to fight against
Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...
. It was the site of a military victory by the French
Army of the Alps The Army of the Alps (''Armée des Alpes'') was one of the French Revolutionary armies. It existed from 1792–1797 and from July to August 1799, and the name was also used on and off until 1939 for France's army on its border with Italy. 1792� ...
, led by General-in-Chief Alex Dumas over
Piedmontese Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly reg ...
forces in April 1794, a victory that enabled the French Army of Italy to invade and conquer the Italian peninsula. It was the principal route for crossing the Alps between France and Italy until the 19th century. It was also used as the main passage by which
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
crossed with his army to invade
Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...
in 773, and later by Napoleon I. Mont Cenis was one of the most used Alpine passes from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. The pass was part of the border between the two countries from the annexation of Savoy to the Second French Empire in 1861 until the 1947 Treaty of Paris, but is now located completely in France. The treaty allowed
Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Sa ...
to retrieve its historical and political boundaries. It has historically been part of Route nationale 6. A road over the pass was built between 1802 and 1805 by
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
to improve military connections. By 1810, it was the most travelled road between France and Italy, as
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...
was closed to silk trade traffic from
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, leading to
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
becoming a major trade centre instead. The
Mont Cenis Pass Railway The Mont Cenis Pass Railway operated from 1868 to 1871 (with some interruptions) during the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps between southeast France and northwest Italy. It was designed by John Barraclough Fell and his ...
was opened alongside the road in 1868, but was dismantled in 1871, on the opening of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel. It was the first ever railway based on the Fell mountain railway system and was worked by English engine-drivers. The Fréjus Rail Tunnel acquired the alternative, and geographically incorrect, name of Mont Cenis Tunnel because the traffic which formerly used the Mont Cenis Pass was transferred to it. When the
Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
-Piedmont ceded Savoy to France, in 1860, the Mont Cenis became a frontier pass, and consequently a part of Savoy was left on the Italian side. It was therefore highly fortified as a protection against an invasion of the Val di Susa route towards Turin. In 1874-1880 the Italian Regio Esercito built three stone forts: Fort Cassa, Fort Varisello and Fort Roncia, supported by several batteries and fortifications, such as those at top of
Mont Malamot Mont Malamot (Italian: ''Monte Malamot''; also called ''Pointe Droset'' in French) is a mountain in the northern Cottian Alps, near the Mont Cenis pass. It has an elevation of . History Nowadays entirely included in French territory, it separa ...
. Two further armored batteries, La Court and Paradiso, were added in the early 20th century, while the Fascist government built here part of its underground Alpine Wall. All these fortifications are now in French territory after the boundaries revision in 1947 allowing Savoy to get its historical territory back. The Lac Du Mont Cenis is an artificial dam that was constructed in 1921 on top of the original road and border crossing. It feeds two hydroelectric power plants. The lake is occasionally drained for maintenance.


Cycling

The pass of Mont Cenis has been featured 5 times in the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
. It has been classified ''hors-catégorie'' (yielding the highest number of points in the King-of-the-Mountains classification) since 1999. For the 5 years that the pass was on the Tour, the following cyclists have crossed the pass in the lead:Le dico du Tour - Le col du Mont-Cenis dans le Tour de France depuis 1947
* 1949 - Giuseppe Tacca, France * 1956 -
Federico Bahamontes Federico Martín Bahamontes, born Alejandro Martín Bahamontes (; born 9 July 1928), is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. He won the 1959 Tour de France and a total of 11 Grand Tour stages between 1954-1965. He won a total of ...
, Spain * 1961 - Emmanuel Busto, France * 1992 -
Claudio Chiappucci Claudio Chiappucci (born 28 February 1963 in Uboldo, Varese, Lombardy) is a retired Italian professional cyclist. He was on the podium three times in the Tour de France general classification: second in 1990, third in 1991 and second again in 199 ...
, Italy * 1999 -
Dimitri Konyshev Dimitri Konyshev (Russian Дмитрий Борисович Конышев; born 18 February 1966 in Gorky) is a Russian former road bicycle racer. During the 1989 World Championship he can be seen in a rather famous photo of cycling history sh ...
, Russia In the
2013 Giro d'Italia The 2013 Giro d'Italia was the 96th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Naples and finished in Brescia. Vincenzo Nibali of team Astana won the general classification. Teams As a UCI World Tour race, t ...
, the pass was featured in the 15th stage on May 19, 2013.


Climate

Mont Cenis has a
subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, g ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''Dfc''). Due to the elevation of the top of the mountain at , the temperature here is significantly lower than that of the plains. Even the warmest months of July and August, the temperature rarely rises above , and often falls below minus in severe winter. Around the world, there are also Zoige and Litang areas with similar climatic characteristics here. The average annual temperature in Mont Cenis is . The average annual rainfall is with May as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in February, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Mont Cenis was on 26 June 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 4 February 2012.


Points of interest

*
Jardin botanique de Mont Cenis The Jardin botanique de Mont Cenis is an alpine botanical garden located on Mont Cenis above the town of Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis, Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auve ...
, an alpine
botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...


See also

*
List of highest paved roads in Europe This is a list of the highest paved roads in Europe. It includes roads that are over long and whose culminating point is at least above sea level. This height approximately corresponds to that of the highest settlements in Europe and to the t ...
*
List of mountain passes This is a list of mountain passes. Africa Egypt * Halfaya Pass (near Libya) Lesotho * Moteng Pass * Mahlasela pass * Sani Pass Morocco * Tizi n'Tichka South Africa * Eastern Cape Passes * Western Cape Passes * Northern Cape Passes * K ...


Notes


References

*


External links

*
Profile on climbbybike.com

Both Sides: Cycling Map, Profile, and Photos



Montcenis


* Chemin de Fer du Mont-Cenis * Lac du Mont-Cenis * Col du Petit Mont-Cenis
Mont Cenis on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cenis, Mont Mountain passes of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mountain passes of the Alps Mountains of Savoie France–Italy border crossings