Monte Ceneri is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...

in the

canton of Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It connects the Magadino Plain and the Vedeggio Valley across the

Lugano Prealps The Lugano Prealps (''Prealpi Luganesi'' or ''Prealpi Lombarde Occidentali'' in Italian) are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Canton Ticino (southern Switzerland) and in Lombardy (northern Italy). Geograph ...

at an elevation of above sea level. It provides the most direct route between the cities of

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

and

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a populat ...

. Despite its name (''monte'' is the Italian word for "mountain"), Monte Ceneri is the lowest point on the crest between

Monte Tamaro Monte Tamaro is a mountain of the Lugano Prealps, overlooking Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino. Reaching a height of 1,962 metres above sea level, it is the highest summit of the chain located between Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano, wh ...

and the

Camoghè The Camoghè is a mountain of the Lugano Prealps, located east of Camorino in the canton of Ticino. It is the highest mountain that can be seen from Lugano city center. SOIUSA classification According to the SOIUSA (''International Standardiz ...

. Two tunnels have been dug under Monte Ceneri, the

Monte Ceneri Road Tunnel The Monte Ceneri Road Tunnel is a motorway tunnel in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The tunnel is situated under the Monte Ceneri Pass that separates the north of the canton around Bellinzona from the south of the canton around Lugano. It forms par ...

for the A2 motorway and the

Monte Ceneri Rail Tunnel The Monte Ceneri Rail Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The tunnel is situated under the Monte Ceneri Pass that separates the north of the canton around Bellinzona from the south of the canton around Lugano. It forms pa ...

for the

Gotthard railway The Gotthard railway (german: Gotthardbahn; it, Ferrovia del Gottardo) is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between nort ...

. A new rail tunnel, the

Ceneri Base Tunnel The Ceneri Base Tunnel (CBT, it, Galleria di base del Monte Ceneri) is a Swiss railway base tunnel in the canton of Ticino. It passes under Monte Ceneri between Camorino in the Magadino Flat and Vezia near Lugano; it bypasses the former high ...

, was opened in 2020, and connects

Camorino Camorino is a former municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017 the former municipalities of Claro, Giubiasco, Gnosca, Gorduno, Gudo, Moleno, Monte Carasso, Pianezzo, Preonzo, Sant'Antoni ...

near Bellinzona and Vezia near Lugano. The pass is situated in the recently created municipality of Monteceneri and the district of Lugano. The Monte Ceneri radio transmitter is located close to the pass. The larger part of Ticino, which lies to the north of Monte Ceneri and includes the valley of the Ticino river and the cities of Bellinzona and

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech ...

, is often referred to as the

Sopraceneri The Sopraceneri (''above the Ceneri'', lombard: ''Surascender'') is the part of the Swiss canton of Ticino that lies to the north of the Monte Ceneri Pass through the Lugano Prealps. It includes the whole of the valley of the Ticino river and its ...

(''above the Ceneri''). The smaller part to the south, which includes

Mendrisio Mendrisio (; lmo, label= Ticinese, Mendris ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura of the university of Italian-speaking Switzerland (U ...

and

Chiasso Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of Co ...

, takes the name Sottoceneri (''under the Ceneri'').

References

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* Mountain passes of Ticino Mountain passes of the Alps Rail mountain passes of Switzerland Mountain passes of Switzerland {{Ticino-geo-stub

See also

References

External links