Col du Mont Cenis

Col du Mont Cenis
Compass direction	north	south
Pass height	2081  m
location	Savoie , France
Watershed	Arc → Isère → Rhone	Dora Riparia → Po
Valley locations	Lanslebourg- Mont-Cenis	Susa ( Metropolitan City of Turin , Italy )
expansion	D 1006	Strada Statale 25 (Italy)
Built	1803
Winter closure	December – May
Mountains	Graian Alps / Cottian Alps
profile
Mountain scoring	1	HC
Ø pitch	6.9% (682 m / 9.8 km)	5.2% (1581 m / 30.5 km)
map
Coordinates	45 ° 15 '37 "  N , 6 ° 54' 3"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 15 '37 "  N , 6 ° 54' 3"  E

The Col du Mont Cenis ( Colle del Moncenisio ) is a 2081  m high French Alpine pass adjoining the Mont Cenis massif to the south on the route from Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis and Lanslevillard in France to Susa in Italy. This route forms part of the border between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the south. The French part of the region belongs to the outer zone of the Parc National de la Vanoise .

The Lac du Mont Cenis reservoir is located on a high plateau south of the pass . A little further south, already down the valley, runs the border between France and Italy . The pass road is Départementstrasse D 1006 on the French side and Strada Statale 25 on the Italian side .

The current border, which lies south of the pass, corresponds to the border of the Duchy of Savoy up to 1860. After the Italian state was founded in 1860, the border was placed on the pass and the high plateau to the south (81.79 square kilometers in total) went to Italy . As a partial result of the Paris Peace Conference in 1946 , the summit of the pass and the high plateau were returned to France, and the border line before 1860 was restored.

history

In the early summer of 312, Emperor Constantine I crossed the top of the pass when he was leading a campaign against Maxentius . The Frankish kings Pippin and Charlemagne also crossed the Alps at this point, Pippin in 754 and 756, and Charles in the year 773. In January 1077, Henry IV crossed the Alps here on his way to Canossa . In October 1310 Henry VII crossed the high mountains on this route on the train to Rome. Napoléon Bonaparte had the passable road opened in 1803 expanded.

In order not to have to wait for the opening of the railway tunnel between Bardonecchia and Modane ( Mont Cenis railway tunnel ), a railway line was later built over the Col du Mont Cenis, which was in operation from 1868 to 1871. It was used in particular to carry British mail on its way to India . The steam-driven adhesion track was equipped according to the Fell system : a strong spring pressed two additional wheels against a central rail , so that even steep passages could be overcome.

In the winter of 1914, Alberto Garelli conquered the pass on a self-made motorcycle , a company that was considered impossible at the time. The pass was included in the Tour de France route five times , namely in 1949, 1956, 1961, 1992 and 1999.

The construction of another railway tunnel, the Mont-Cenis Base Tunnel , has been under discussion for years.

tourism

The Mont Cenis Plateau is a popular destination. At 'Les Fontanettes' there is a small historical museum and an Italian-French information center.

The Via Alpina and Alta Via Val di Susa long-distance hiking trails run over the Mont-Cenis plateau.

gallery

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  Reservoir at the Col du Mont Cenis

• 

  View over the reservoir towards the dam, behind it descent to Italy

literature

• Sabine Bade, Wolfram Mikuteit: Piemont. (GPS-mapped routes - practical travel tips. Hiking guide - with 38 tours). Michael Müller, Erlangen 2010, ISBN 978-3-89953-566-2 .
• Sabine Bade, Wolfram Mikuteit: Alta via Val di Susa. 2nd Edition. fernwege.de, Roxheim 2009, ISBN 978-3-937304-77-9 .
• F. L – n .: Through and over the Mont-Cenis . In: The Gazebo . Issue 17, 1866, pp. 267–270 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

Commons : Col du Mont Cenis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ernest Weibel: La création des régions autonomes à statut spécial en Italie (= Travaux de droit, d'économie, de sociologie et de sciences politiques. 87, ISSN  0082-6022 ). Droz, Geneva 1971, p. 222 f. , (Lausanne, University, thesis, 1971).
2. ↑ Johannes Laudage : The Salier - The first German royal house . 3. Edition. CH Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-53597-0 , p. 78