Piottino Gorge

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Piottino gorge to the south
Piottino Gorge with the old road to the north

The Piottino Gorge (Italian Gola del Piottino or Monte Piottino ) is a gorge in the Valle Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland . The river Ticino flows through it and separates the Alta Leventina from the Media Leventina with a height difference of around 150 meters .

At the top of the gorge is the village of Rodi-Fiesso in the municipality of Prato (Leventina) . At the lower end in the municipality of Osco there is no inhabited village, as the valley only widens further down. The first village on the valley floor is Faido .

The Piottino Gorge was always a major obstacle on the Gotthard Road , as it is very narrow and surrounded by high rocks. It was not until the end of the 14th century that a mule track ran through the gorge. Before that, the road left the bottom of the valley at Faido and led over the plateau of Dalpe and Cornone to Prato , and then returned to the bottom of the valley at Fiesso .

The Gotthard Railway Company built the two spiral tunnels Freggio and Prato to overcome the height difference caused by the Piottino gorge . The A2 motorway overcomes the gorge through a system of tunnels and viaducts.

Dazio Grande

At the top of the gorge is the renovated Dazio Grande customs house from the time when the canton of Uri ruled the Leventina. As part of the renovation work, the old Urner Saumstrasse ( Strada Urana ) was also repaired.

From the old customs house, a circular hike leads through the gorge to the “middle bridge” at the exit of the gorge and back via the “Strada romana”. During the construction work, a piece of the original Urnerstrasse came to light below the chapel. The path leads past the «Dazio Vecchio», which the Dazio Grande replaced when the path through the gorge was opened. A small exhibition in the Dazio Grande provides information about transport on the Gotthard.

  • Dazio Grande

  • The house behind the railway and road bridge, photo SBB undated

  • State 1840

Web links

Commons : Gola di Monte Piottino  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dazio Grande on ETHorama

Coordinates: 46 ° 29 '  N , 8 ° 45'  E ; CH1903:  700999  /  149,712