The Splügen Pass (german: Splügenpass; it, Passo dello Spluga; rm, Pass dal Spleia ) is an Alpine

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 migrati ...

of the

Lepontine Alps , topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , photo=MonteLeone0001.jpg , photo_caption=Monte Leone , country_type= Countries , country= , subdivision1_type= Cantons, Regions , subdivision1= , parent= Western Alps , borders_ ...

. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian

Splügen Splügen ( Romansh: ''Spleia'', Italian: ''Spluga'') is a former municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2006 Splügen incorporated its neighbouring municipality of Medels im Rheinwald. On 1 January ...

to the north below the pass with the Italian

Chiavenna Chiavenna ( lmo, Ciavèna ; la, Clavenna; rm, Clavenna or ''Claven''; archaic german: Cläven or ''Kleven'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine ...

to the south at the end of the Valle San Giacomo below the pass.

Geography

The pass road connects the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internatio ...

Hinterrhein valley and

in the

canton of Graubünden The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Surmiran, (Ca ...

with the Valle San Giacomo and

in the Italian

province of Sondrio The Province of Sondrio ( it, provincia di Sondrio) is in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Its provincial capital is the city of Sondrio. As of 2017, it has a population of 181,403. History The Province was established in 1815, within ...

, the road continuing to

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label= Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thi ...

. The pass is the

water divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single ...

between the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

s of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sour ...

, which flows into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

, and the Po, which flows into the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...

. The pass is overlooked by Pizzo Tambo and the Surettahorn, on its western and eastern side respectively. On the Italian side of the pass is Montespluga, a small three street village which is cut off from both Italy and Switzerland during the winter. ViaSpluga01

Since the opening of the San Bernardino road tunnel in 1967, the pass has lost its former importance; it is not kept open in winter. Thanks to its lack of importance it is now a quiet pass where essential portions of the historical roads have survived allowing a good historical review for hikers on the ''Via Spluga''.

History

The pass was already in use in the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

era. It possibly corresponds to ''Cunus Aureus'' shown on the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' ( Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th- ...

(which may alternatively have referred to the

Julier Pass The Julier Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass dal Güglia'', German: ''Julierpass'', Italian ''Passo del Giulia'') (el. 2284 m) is a mountain pass in Switzerland, in the Albula Alps. It connects the Engadin valley with central Graubünden, the nearest i ...

). The name ''Splügen'' itself is possibly derived from ''specula'' ("lookout"). In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the

Bishops of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur, Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Septimer Pass Septimer Pass (German: ''Septimerpass'', Italian: ''Passo del Settimo'', Romansh: ''Pass da Sett''; elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden in the Swiss Alps between the valleys of Bregaglia (Bergell) and Surses (Ober ...

. From 1818 to 1823 the modern road was built at the behest of the Austrian authorities, then ruling the

Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ( la, links=no, Regnum Langobardiae et Venetiae), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" ( it, links=no, Regno Lombardo-Veneto, german: links=no, Königreich Lombardo-Venetien), was a constituent land ...

in the south. In 1840, author

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

traveled through the pass on the way to Lake Como with her son. She describes the pass in her travel narrative, ''Rambles in Germany and Italy'', published in 1844: Splügenpass Winter Bild3

In 1843 the road was further expanded with a long avalanche gallery designed by the Swiss engineer Richard La Nicca which today is out of use but largely preserved. Plans to build a railroad line across Splügen Pass were abandoned in favour of 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 ...

opened in 1882. The Pass is also mentioned in Arthur Conan Doyle's "

The Adventure of the Illustrious Client "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" (1924) is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and one of the 12 stories collected as '' The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' (1927). It was first ...

", a Sherlock Holmes short story of 1924. The Austrian Baron Adalbert Grüner, the villain of the story, murdered his wife by throwing her from the Pass, although Holmes cannot prove it.

Bibliography

* Nicola Pfund, ''Sui passi in bicicletta - Swiss Alpine passes by bicycle'', Fontana Edizioni, 2012, p. 140-145.

References

External links

*
HistoryGradient of the road from SplügenGradient of the road from Chiavenna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Splugen Pass Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Italy Mountain passes of Switzerland Italy–Switzerland border crossings Valle Spluga Landforms of Lombardy Mountain passes of Graubünden Transport in Lombardy Lepontine Alps Rheinwald

Geography

History

See also

Bibliography

References

External links