Principal passes of the Alps

This article lists the principal mountain passes and tunnels in the Alps, and gives a history of transport across the Alps.

Road passes

Main chain

Paved road passes across the main chain of the Alps, from west to east:

name	location	countries	elevation (m)
Colle di Cadibona	Savona to Ceva	Italy	436
Colle del Melogno	Finale Ligure to Ceva	Italy	1028
Giogo di Toirano	Toirano to Calizzano	Italy	807
Colle Scravaion	Albenga to Calizzano	Italy	820
Colle San Bernardo	Albenga to Garessio	Italy	957
Passo di Prale	Cisano sul Neva to Ormea	Italy	1258
Colle di Nava	Imperia to Ormea	Italy	934
Colle San Bernardo di Mendatica	Triora and Mendatica to Ormea (through Colle di Nava)	Italy	1262
Col de Tende	Tende to Cuneo	France, Italy	1870
Col de la Lombarde	Isola to Vinadio	France, Italy	2350
Maddalena Pass/Col de Larche	Barcelonnette to Cuneo	France, Italy	1996
Col Agnel	Queyras to Sampeyre	France, Italy	2744
Col de Montgenèvre	Briançon to Susa	France	1854
Col de l'Échelle	Briançon to Bardonecchia	France, Italy	1762
Col du Mont Cenis	Modane to Susa	France	2084
Little St Bernard Pass	Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Prè-Saint-Didier	France, Italy	2188
Great St Bernard Pass	Martigny to Aosta	Switzerland, Italy	2469
Simplon Pass	Brig to Domodossola	Switzerland	2005
Nufenen Pass	Brig to Airolo	Switzerland	2478
St Gotthard Pass	Andermatt to Airolo	Switzerland	2108
Lukmanier Pass	Disentis to Biasca	Switzerland	1916
San Bernardino Pass	Splügen to Bellinzona	Switzerland	2065
Splügen Pass	Splügen to Chiavenna	Switzerland, Italy	2113
Maloja Pass	St. Moritz to Chiavenna	Switzerland	1815
Bernina Pass	Pontresina to Tirano	Switzerland	2323
Livigno Pass	Poschiavo to Livigno	Switzerland, Italy	2315
Foscagno Pass	Bormio to Livigno	Italy	2291
Fuorn Pass	Zernez to Val Müstair	Switzerland	2149
Reschen Pass	Nauders to Meran	Austria, Italy	1507
Timmelsjoch	Ötztal valley to Meran	Austria, Italy	2474
Brenner Pass	Innsbruck to Sterzing	Austria, Italy	1370
Hochtor	Zell am See to Lienz	Austria	2505
Radstädter Tauern Pass	Radstadt to Mauterndorf	Austria	1739
Sölk Pass	Schöder to Gröbming	Austria	1788
Triebener Tauern Pass	Judenburg to Trieben	Austria	1274
Schober Pass	Liezen to Leoben	Austria	849
Präbichl	Eisenerz to Leoben	Austria	1204
Aflenzer Seeberg	Mariazell to Bruck an der Mur	Austria	1254
Niederalpl Pass	Mürzsteg to Gußwerk	Austria	1221
Lahnsattel	Mürzsteg to Mariazell	Austria	1006
Ochsattel	Schwarzau im Gebirge to Hohenberg	Austria	820
Kalte Kuchl	Schwarzau im Gebirge to Rohrbach an der Gölsen	Austria	728
Gerichtsberg Pass	Altenmarkt an der Triesting to Hainfeld	Austria	581

Other passes

Detailed lists of passes are given by Alpine subdivision, see the following articles:

Western Alps
Eastern Alps
- Northern Limestone Alps
  - The Alps of Bavaria, the Vorarlberg, and Salzburg
- Central Eastern Alps
  - Bergamo Alps
  - Rhaetian Alps, including Bernina Range, Livigno Range, Sesvenna Range, Albula Range, Silvretta and Rätikon
  - Verwall Alps and Samnaun Alps
  - Tyrolean Alps, including Ötztal Alps, Stubai Alps, Kitzbühel Alps, Hohe Tauern and Zillertal Alps
  - Niedere Tauern
- Southern Limestone Alps
  - Adamello-Presanella and Brenta Group
  - Ortler Alps
  - Dolomites
  - Carnic Alps
  - Julian Alps
  - Karavanke
  - Kamnik Alps

Road tunnels

Main chain, from west to east:

name	location	countries	length (km)
Col de Tende Road Tunnel	Tende to Cuneo	France, Italy	3.2
Fréjus Road Tunnel	Modane to Susa	France, Italy	12.9
Mont Blanc Tunnel	Chamonix to Courmayeur	France, Italy	11.6
Great St Bernard Tunnel	Martigny to Aosta	Switzerland, Italy	5.9
St. Gotthard Tunnel	Göschenen to Airolo	Switzerland	17
San Bernardino Tunnel	Splügen to Bellinzona	Switzerland	7.7
Felbertauern Tunnel	Mittersill to Lienz	Austria	5.3
Tauern Road Tunnel	Eben im Pongau to Sankt Michael im Lungau	Austria	6.4

Notable other tunnels:

name	location	countries	length (km)
Arlberg Tunnel	Langen am Arlberg to St. Anton am Arlberg	Austria	13.976
Karawanks Tunnel	Villach to Jesenice	Austria, Slovenia	7.864

Railway passes and tunnels

Main chain, from west to east:

name	type	location	countries	length (km)	elevation (m)
Colle di Cadibona	pass	Savona to Ceva	Italy		436
Tunnel de Tende	tunnel	Tende to Cuneo	France, Italy	8.1
Fréjus Rail Tunnel	tunnel	Modane to Susa	France, Italy	13.7
Simplon Tunnel	tunnel	Brig to Domodossola	Switzerland, Italy	19.8
Gotthard Rail Tunnel	tunnel	Göschenen to Airolo	Switzerland	15
Bernina Pass	pass	Pontresina to Tirano	Switzerland		2323
Brenner Pass	pass	Innsbruck to Sterzing	Austria, Italy		1370
Tauern tunnel	tunnel	Bad Gastein to Obervellach	Austria	8.6
Schoberpass	pass	Liezen to Leoben	Austria		849
Präbichl	pass	Eisenerz to Leoben	Austria		1204

Notable other railway passes and tunnels:

name	type	location	countries	length (km)	elevation (m)
Arlberg Railway Tunnel	tunnel	Langen am Arlberg to St. Anton am Arlberg	Austria	10.6	1303
Karawanks Tunnel	tunnel	Villach to Jesenice	Austria, Slovenia	8.0
Lötschberg Base Tunnel	tunnel	Spiez to Brig	Switzerland	34.6
Lötschberg Tunnel	tunnel	Spiez to Brig	Switzerland	14.6
Oberalp Pass	pass	Andermatt to Disentis	Switzerland		2044
Semmering	tunnel	Gloggnitz to Mürzzuschlag	Austria	1.5	965

History

Places where the Alps were crossed are called passes, and are points at which the alpine chain sinks to form depressions, up to which deep-cut valleys lead from the plains & hilly pre-mountainous zones. The oldest names for such passes are Mont (still retained in cases of Mont Cenis and Monte Moro), for it was many ages before this term was applied to mountains themselves, which with a few very rare exceptions (e.g. Monte Viso was known to the Romans as Vesulus) were for a long time disregarded.^[1]

Native inhabitants of the Alps were naturally the first to use the passes. The passes first became known to the outside world when the Romans crossed them to raid or conquer the region beyond. Romans, once having found an "easy" way across the chain, did not trouble to seek for harder and more devious routes. Hence, passes that can be shown as certainly known to them are relatively few in number: they are, in topographical order from west to east, the Col de l'Argentiere, the Col de Montgenèvre, the col du Mont Cenis, the two St Bernard passes (Little St Bernard Pass and Great St. Bernard Pass), the Splügen Pass, the Septimer Pass, the Reschen Pass, the Brenner Pass, the Plöcken Pass, the Pontebba Pass (or Saifnitz Pass), the Radstädter Tauern Pass and the Solkscharte Pass or Sölk Pass.^[1]

Of these the Montgenèvre and the Brenner were the most frequented. In the Central Alps only two passes (the Splügen and the Septimer) were certainly known to the Romans. In fact the central portion of the Alps was by far the least Romanised region until the early Middle Ages. Thus the Simplon is first definitely mentioned in 1235, the St Gotthard in 1236, the Lukmanier in 965, the San Bernardino in 941; of course they may have been known before, but authentic history is silent as regards them till the dates specified. Even the Mont Cenis (from the 15th to the 19th century the favourite pass for travellers going from France to Italy) is first heard of only in 756.^[2]

In the 13th century many hitherto unknown passes came into prominence, even some of the easy glacier passes. In the Western and Central Alps there is only one ridge to cross, to which access is gained by a deep-cut valley, though often it would be shorter to cross a second pass in order to reach the plains, e.g. the Montgenèvre, that is most directly reached by the Col du Lautaret; and the Simplon, which is best reached by one of the lower passes over the western portion of the Bernese Oberland chain. On the other hand, in the Eastern Alps, it is generally necessary to cross three distinct ridges between the northern and southern plains, the Central ridge being the highest and most difficult to cross. Thus the passes which crossed a single ridge, and did not involve too great a detour through a long valley of approach, became the most important and the most popular, e.g. the Mont Cenis, the Great St Bernard, the St Gotthard, the Septimer and the Brenner.^[3]

As time went on the Alpine passes were improved to make travel easier. A few passes (e.g. the Semmering, the Brenner, the Col de Tende and the Arlberg) had carriage roads constructed before 1800, while those over the Umbrail and the Great St Bernard were not completed till the early years of the 20th century. Most of the carriage roads across the great alpine passes were thus constructed in the first half of the 19th century, largely due to the Napoleon's need for such roads as modes of military transport. As late as 1905, the highest pass over the main chain that had a carriage road was the Great St Bernard (2,472 m (8,111 ft)), but three still higher passes over side ridges have roads—the col de l'Iseran, the Stelvio Pass (2,760 m (9,040 ft)), the Col du Galibier (2,658 m (8,721 ft)), in the Dauphiné Alps, and the Umbrail Pass (2,512 m (8,242 ft)).^[3]

Railway lines, like the Brenner and the Pontebba lines, were added to speed travel through the passes and tunnels supplemented passes at the Col de Tenda, the Mont Cenis, the Simplon and the St Gotthard.^[3]

Notes

1 2 Knox 1911, p. 740.
↑ Knox 1911, pp. 740–741.
1 2 3 Knox 1911, p. 741.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Knox, Howard Vincent (1911). "Alps § 5. Principal Passes". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 740–741.