Alps. Italian Side, Alps. Gran San Bernardo Pass. Great Saint Bernard Pass.

 The Great Saint Bernard Pass

The Gran San Bernardo Pass
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Italian Side, Alps

Continue to Swiss Side at Switzerland Road Ways, San Bernardo Pass

The Gran San Bernardo is an ancient and treacherous pass through the Alps: Switzerland on one side, Italy on the other. Conquerors, emissaries, migrations, tourists - all have climbed or ridden very carefully, and some with great suffering, through and over and even under it. There is now an alternative for modern rush days - take the tunnel, if you must. Don't. Don't do it. Go once over the real thing. Motorcycles do, in swooping lines around blind turns; why not you.

Grand San Bernardo Pass, the approach, Italian Alps


Cliffs and hairpin turns, called switchbacks, repeat, up and up, around, then sudden street lamps mark the summit, a modern alert to vehicles that summit congestion is coming.  For foot travelers, climbers, or those on horseback or donkey, the way to the summit is marked by pyramid piles of rock called cairns. See more panoramic views of the way up at ://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/155249/pointe-valletta.html/

Summit street lamps, San Bernardo di Mentone, Great Saint Bernard Pass, Italian,Alps.

At the summit, Italian side, find Saint Bernard himself, San Bernardo di Mentone, sometimes called San Bernardo di Aosta because he was born near Aosta, Italy, at Mentone, in 1023 or so.  See this translation of his life at ://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/33350/.  Do a search for that, and hit the translation button.

The Saint.  He lived in these mountains for years, for most of each year, set up this comprehensive shelter hostel, equipped to serve travelers for longer periods as needed. Horses, cargo, all accommodated. However, it is disputed whether he did all that or not - see ://www.vtliving.com/saintbernards/index.shtml/; the dates do not gibe for the founding and when he died, and the naming came centuries later.  History is never clear, and beliefs and tradition count for more than later facts, is that so? Sure.

Saint Bernard, Statue, Gran San Bernardo Pass, Italy to Switzerland, Alps

There are a number of buildings at the summit: for coffee, for rescue equipment, bad weather lay-overs, a good stretch.   Before starting up the Pass, put your fleece or sweaters at the top of your stuff for an easy put-on at the top.

Great Saint Bernard Pass, Alps, rest, rescue and hostel

 Weather changes fast.  Here is the alpine lake at the summit, looking back at the Italian side with its hostel, the statue of Saint Bernard, and rest stop.  Sun breaking through, but that did not last.
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Resthouse (not main monastery), Italian side, Gran San Bernardo Pass, Alps, Italy

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Looking at the lake, there is a cross out there. Does it mark an event, or serve as a symbol for the monastery's activities. It does not stand out, but is there.
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Alpine lake and small cross, summit, Gran San Bernardo Pass, Alps, Italy

Fast weather changes. Still above freezing, but cold, windy.
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Storm coming, San Bernardo Pass, Alps

We had periodic rain and hail on the way up, not serious, then back to sun part-time. See an overview of history and weather and famous people passing this way at ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_St_Bernard_Pass/ 

Just around the lake is the passport checkpoint for Switzerland.  The border is not open because Switzerland is not part of the European Union.

San Bernardo Monastery view, seen from Italian side, Great Saint Bernard Pass, Alps.

This Pass is part of the ancient Via Francigena way of the pilgrims, coming from as far away as Canterbury, England, and other parts of Northern Europe, all the way to the Vatican. In the 900's, towns along the way were sizable.  See ://www.marka.it/rep_Skeda.php?lang=ENG&categoria=Travel&reportage=La%20via%20Francigena&nome=Paolo%20Siccardi&reptitoloENG=The%20via%20Francigena&replista=no/  You can walk it by yourself.  See http://www.pilgrimroutes.com/italy.aspx/.

Now:  see the second half of the travel over the Gran San Bernardo, the Swiss side, at Switzerland Road Ways, Gran San Bernardo Pass.

Aosta - To the Alps. Romans and Castles. Aosta Valley.

Romans captured Aosta from the Gauls in about 25 BCE, and made Aosta into a legion post on the way to the Italian side of the Alps. There is a great deal of gray stone, streets in grids.

Signs are terrible. Aosta is a place on the way elsewhere, to the San Bernardino Pass, and yet try to find the ruins easily, with some idea of how much farther to go. We stop at towns like Aosta mainly for a gas-up and snack, and take a quick look around, but if sights are not well marked, take what we get and move on. The weather is looming and time passing,  and the signs, again, are awful. Aosta tourism, you are losing business.
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Aosta, Italy. Roman wall, ruin.

Aosta, Italy. The Wolf, of Romulus and Remus fame.

Then, Charlemagne (fast forward) passed through on the route Pilgrims used from more northern Europe to the Vatican. Read this fine description at ://www.initaly.com/regions/valdsta/aosta.htm/. Peasants, crusaders, royalty, all funneling through.

Aosta, on the way to the Grand San Bernardino Pass. FN 1

First, see the castles and vineyards, and terraced other things growing, on the way to Aosta and out the other side.

Terraced vineyards, Aosta Valley, Italy

Fenis Castle, Aosta Valley, Italy

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Some castles along the way are identifiable by their silhouettes.  This one, Fenis, like Verres, were feudal military outposts, but also offered luxury to the higher-ups.

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 The Bard Castle, Aosta Valley, Italy

The Bard Castle as a site dates from the 11th Century, perhaps parts earlier.  The Savoys occupied it in the 13th Century, and its site has housed a fortress since the first century - Romans set up there. See ://www.regione.vda.it/turismo/cultura/castelli/forte_di_bard_e.asp/  Austrians also holed up there until Napoleon broke through its defenses, and then the entire castle was dismantled.  What we see now is a reproduction from the 19th Century, the castle then was decommissioned, and is now a museum complex.

D'Ael Bridge (segment), and mountaintop Montmayer castle, Aosta Valley, Italy

Above the D'Ael Bridge is a small tower castle, the Montmayer, by the Valgrisenche valley. Think broody. This could be Ussel's Castle - both lone towers, but the Ussel is a rectangle, and I do not recall seeing a rectangle.

Verres Castle, Aosta Valley, Northern Italy

The castle at Verres is 14th Century, and was not only defensive. It also offered the good life - opulence, a palace atmosphere.

Then start the climb and the switchbacks up.  You can choose the tunnel, but then you see a tunnel. There are tunnels now that whisk the motorcars as an alternative under and through, rather than switchback, peril and up and down. We avoided the long tunnels. Short ones are unavoidable - some being just a few thousand feet to a few miles, or mere roofing buttressed up, with open sides.
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FN 1  Passes.

There are two particular historic passes over the Alps, among many, with names that have become household:

1) The Grand San Bernardino Pass, here, from Aosta to Martigny, Switzerland; and
2) Hannibal's route. More lateral, from France.

The Grand San Bernardo Pass is a more north-south, from Switzerland into Italy or the other way, of course, with the monks at a hostel at the top, and the St. Bernard dogs to rescue the frozen, broken, traveler in the old days. Napoleon went this way.

The Grand San Bernardino is usually routed as from Aosta, and the Aosta Valley, as the gateway, over the  to the Swiss town of Martigny.

2) Hannibal's route; a lateral way from the French side of the Alps into Italy.

We tried to do this. But just try to get to the town of Susa from Turin on a Sunday, and soon quit. Traffic impossible, no easy through route to find. We don't often give up, but did here. Next trip, start from France. There is a dispute as to which route he did take with his elephants, some say not on current roads at all, and vast archeological treasures are to be found in the ravines elsewhere. We quit and aimed back to Aosta.and

Dolomites, and Cortina, Italian Alps

Dolomites, Italian Alps

During World War I, there was horrendous fighting in these Alps. From 1915 to 1917, Italians and Austrians suffered two winters, dug in, tunneling, in trenches, and with mines. There were 6400 Italians killed, 1800 Austrians, for example, at one battle alone. See Dolomites, History, at ://www.dolomiti.org/dengl/sd/index.html/. That was at Col de Lana, and col means "pass". We did not know of the tunnel tangle at Lagazuoi, the Ice City, but if we get back, that will be on the list. See it at ://www.dolomiti.org/dengl/Cortina/laga5torri/storia/fronteLaga.html

Cortina, Dolomites, Italian Alps

The town and region of Cortina is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, see http://italy-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/italian_dolomites_alpine_driving_tour/, famous for its sports, partying and also its long strategic history, see ://www.dolomiti.org/dengl/Cortina/csto/mfbelli/index.html/ In 1956, Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted the Olympics. Read the index of topics at that site: prehistoric times, Romans, Middle Ages with the Lombards, Franks and then the Ottomans, nobles and Crusades, Venice influence, short-lived small republic (Maximilian let that go on a while), jump ahead to Fascism and World Wars, and boundary shifts.

Travel is restricted. Plan for it.

We arrived at Cortina from the north, from Lienz, Austria; then tried to get to Merano from Cortina.

Merano used to be part of Austria as Meran, and a dear friend's grandfather was from the old town. We were caught in the wrong place, wrong time. Too far to go to head back to the long valley route, and the mountain passes are impassible unless you start early in the day, plan to creep about, check the map every turn (signs are for passes and choices in passes, not the ultimate town heading for), and a full tank. Plan your time in the Dolomites so you see the topography, not just the distances. Ranges go north-south, and passes letting you go east-west are one hazardous switchback after another, on a 1 1/2 lane road, if that, with some lay-bys, otherwise you back up. So plan accordingly.

See that Italian Dolomites Alpine Driving Tour site for how to get to Cortina, and other places, from Verona.  Plan to go from the south.

As you go, watch for those WWI memorials.