GRAND-SAINT-BERNARD PASS

The Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, formerly Summus Poenninus, then Mont-Joux, is one of the most significant Alpine passes in the mountain chain. Rising to 2,473 meters above sea level, it is the lowest and most accessible point on the border between the Aosta Valley and the Valais, which is otherwise made up of an almost unbroken series of "4000" peaks (as peaks over 4,000 meters above sea level are commonly known). Its historical importance was paramount: first used by the Romans as a communication route, it then fell under the jurisdiction of the Counts of Savoy, who controlled it and levied a octroi on the passage of goods. At the turn of the ^19th century, Napoleon sent his army through on its way to conquer Italy. The pass itself consists of a high-altitude plateau entirely occupied by a lake, which remains frozen long into the season. At the highest point, entirely in Swiss territory, stands a thousand-year-old hospice, founded in 1050 by Saint Bernard de Menthon, which is both a monastery and a mountain refuge for pilgrims. In the chapel of the Hospitaliers de l'hospice du Grand-Saint-Bernard, you can see the tomb of French general Desaix, a close friend of Emperor Napoleon who was mortally wounded at the battle of Marengo in June 1800. An unusual detail: the famous breed of Saint-Bernard dog originated here... and its name.