Plöcken Pass (german: Plöckenpass, it, Passo di Monte Croce Carnico) is a high mountain pass in the

Carnic Alps The Carnic Alps ( it, Alpi Carniche; german: Karnische Alpen; sl, Karnijske Alpe; fur, Alps Cjargnelis) are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria and northeastern Italy. They are within Austrian East Tyrol and Carinthia, and Itali ...

mountain range at the border between the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of Carinthia and the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of

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 ...

. It links the market town of

Kötschach-Mauthen Kötschach-Mauthen ( sl, Koča-Muta) is a market town in the district of Hermagor in Carinthia in Austria. Geography The municipality lies in the west of Hermagor at the transition of the upper Gail Valley into the Lesachtal, between the Gai ...

in the Carinthian

Gail Gail may refer to: People *Gail (given name), list of notable people with the given name Surname * Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829), French Hellenist scholar * Max Gail (born 1943), American actor * Sophie Gail (1775–1819), French singer and ...

Valley with the

Paluzza Paluzza ( fur, Paluce) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. A local term in the Bavarian language for " hello" is . Geography It is located about northwest of Trieste and about nor ...

municipality in the Carnia region of

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giuli ...

. A few miles to the west along the ridge is Mt.

Coglians Monte Coglians ( Friulian: ''Coliàns''; german: Hohe Warte) is the highest mountain of the Carnic Alps, on the border between Italy ( province of Udine) and Austria ( Carinthia), west of the Monte Croce Carnico pass ( Plöcken Pass). With its ...

, with the highest peak of the

Carnic and Gailtal Alps german: Karnische und Gailtaler Alpen , etymology= , photo= HoheWarte KellerspitzeWest Karnische.jpg , photo_caption= Hohe Warte/ Monte Coglians, the highest summit of the range, on the right, and Kellerspitzen on the left, viewed from the nor ...

. Before reaching the upper Gail Valley, the pass road also crosses the lower

Gailbergsattel The Gailberg Saddle (german: Gailbergsattel) (el. 981 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Austrian Alps in the '' Bundesland'' of Kärnten (or ''Carinthia''). It connects Oberdrauburg in the north with Kötschach-Mauthen in the south. It leads ...

at in the north.

History

The Italian name derives from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''Monte Crucis'' ("mountain of the cross"), a denotation of the pass in mediæval times. The valley of the Gail River had been a settlement area since the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

era, and a bridle path probably existed already in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

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 lette ...

forces under General

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

rebuilt the path as a

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

after the incorporation of the

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, ...

province in 15 BC, in order to reach the newly conquered lands north of the Carnic Alps from

. The well constructed road was in use throughout the Middle Ages as part of the trade route between Aquileia and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, also after the Carnia region in the south was conquered by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

in 1420. The former '' mansio'' at Timau (''Tischelwang'', today part of

) south of the pass was resettled by miners from Carinthia, up to today it is a German-speaking enclave on Italian territory. Upon the 1809

Treaty of Schönbrunn The Treaty of Schönbrunn (french: Traité de Schönbrunn; german: Friede von Schönbrunn), sometimes known as the Peace of Schönbrunn or Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna on 14 October ...

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 who ...

ic troops crossed the Plöcken Pass to occupy the Upper Carinthian lands around

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...

, which had been ceded to the French Empire as part of the Illyrian Provinces. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the pass became a theater of the Italian Campaign of 1915–1918, when Italian Alpini troops tried to push northwards into Carinthia, though to no avail. As both sides soon concentrated on attrition warfare, numerous

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

s and tunnels were constructed, the remnants of which are still visible today.

External links

Profile on climbbybike.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plocken Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Italy Austria–Italy border crossings Mountain passes of Carinthia (state) Carnic Alps

History

See also

External links