Splügen Pass
Encyclopedia
The Splügen Pass (el. 2,113 m) is a high mountain pass
which marks the boundary between the Lepontine
and Rhaetian
Alps
.
It connects the Swiss
Hinterrhein
valley and Splügen in the canton
of Graubünden
with the Valle Spluga
and Chiavenna
in the Italian province of Sondrio
, the road continuing to Lake Como
. The pass is the water divide
between the drainage basin
s of the Rhine, which flows into the North Sea
, and the Po River
, which flows into the Adriatic.
Since the construction of the tunnel through San Bernardino
, the pass has lost its former importance; it is not kept open in winter.
The Italian counterpart of the Swiss town of Splügen is Montespluga
on the Italian side of the pass. Montespluga is a small three street village which is cut off from both Italy and Switzerland during the winter.
Thanks to its lack of importance it is now a quiet pass where essential portions of the historical roads and paths have survived allowing a good historical review for hikers on Via Spluga.
In 1840, author Mary Shelley
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:
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
which marks the boundary between the Lepontine
Lepontine Alps
The Lepontine Alps are a mountain range in the central part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland and Italy .On the north the upper Rhône valley separate them from the Bernese Alps and the Furka Pass and the upper Reuss valley separates them from the Urner Alps; on the west the Simplon Pass...
and Rhaetian
Rhaetian Alps
The Rhaetian Alps are a part of the Central Eastern Alps along the Italian–Swiss and Austrian–Swiss borders, mostly located in the Graubünden canton in eastern Switzerland.Piz Bernina , set on the Italian border, is the highest peak....
Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
.
It connects the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
Hinterrhein
Hinterrhein (river)
The Hinterrhein is one of the initial tributaries of the Rhine in the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland, flowing from the village Hinterrhein near the San Bernardino pass through the Rheinwald valley into a gorge called Roflaschlucht...
valley and Splügen in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Graubünden
Graubünden
Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
with the Valle Spluga
Valle Spluga
The Valle Spluga, also known as the Val San Giacomo, is an Alpine valley in the north Italian Province of Sondrio , which extends from the Splügen Pass, on the border with Switzerland, south to Chiavenna. It is the valley of the river Liro....
and Chiavenna
Chiavenna (SO)
This article is about the Italian municipality. For the astronomer, see Paolo Chiavenna.Chiavenna is a comune in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 100 km north of Milan and about 40 km northwest of Sondrio...
in the Italian province of Sondrio
Province of Sondrio
The Province of Sondrio is in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the town of Sondrio.It has an area of 3,212 km², and a total population of 176,856...
, the road continuing to Lake Como
Lake Como
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
. The pass is the water divide
Water divide
A drainage divide, water divide, divide or watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basins...
between the drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
s of the Rhine, which flows into the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, and the Po River
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
, which flows into the Adriatic.
Since the construction of the tunnel through San Bernardino
San Bernardino (road tunnel)
The San Bernardino road tunnel is a road tunnel on the A13 motorway/expressway in southeastern Switzerland, completed in 1967 and replacing the San Bernardino Pass road. It begins near the town of San Bernardino, Graubünden and ends north in Hinterrhein....
, the pass has lost its former importance; it is not kept open in winter.
The Italian counterpart of the Swiss town of Splügen is Montespluga
Montespluga
thumb|250px|Montespluga in summer.Montespluga is an Alpine village near the head of the Valle Spluga in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is a frazione of the comune of Madesimo, located at 1,908 m of altitude on the road to Chiavenna....
on the Italian side of the pass. Montespluga is a small three street village which is cut off from both Italy and Switzerland during the winter.
Thanks to its lack of importance it is now a quiet pass where essential portions of the historical roads and paths have survived allowing a good historical review for hikers on Via Spluga.
In 1840, author Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
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:
See also
- List of highest paved roads in Europe
- List of mountain passes
- List of the highest Swiss passes