Page 233 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Switzerland

Did You Know?

The old road up to the
St Gottard Pass has 37
bends, each with its
own name.

is a convenient base for
exploring the valley that
stretches out below. A plaque
in the town commemorates
the 177 people who died
during the tunnel’s construc­
tion in the 1880s.
Valle Leventina, below
Airolo, carries the motorway The old cobblestoned former secret military bunker
and main railway line that run Tremola road, leading up buried deep in the mountains.
from Zürich to Bellinzona and to the St Gotthard pass Two museums in one, it is
Lugano. The valley is dotted in part a natural history
with small towns and villages, museum and in part a military
worth exploring for their allowing for speeds of up to museum. Visitors delve
interesting historic churches. 200 km/h (124 mph) and hundreds of metres into the
Chiggiogna has a church with reducing the journey time mountains before taking the
15th­century frescoes, while from Zürich to Milan to two “Metro del Sasso”, an under­
Chironico has a 10th­century hours and 40 minutes. ground cable car to the
church with 14th­century The 19th­century hospice fortress. Inside, it is as if the
frescoes. The 12th­century on the St Gotthard pass houses 420 soldiers that once occu­
church in Giornico is one the Museo Nazionale del San pied it have only just left:
of the finest in Ticino. The Gottardo. The museum docu­ din ing hall, cannons, hospital,
interior is decorated with ments the history of the pass com munications and map
frescoes dating from 1478. and describes the flora and rooms are all as they were. The
fauna of this high Alpine region. bunker was fully operational
Marked trails lead up to from 1943 to 1998, as dozens
23 the summit of many of the of Swiss mountain redoubts
still are. In the natural history
surrounding peaks, including
St Gotthard Pass Pizzo Lucendro, and to moun­ part of the museum is an
tain terraces from which there ex hibi tion on climate, ecology
! E5 ∑ passosan
gottardo.ch are splendid views. and the min erals that make
up the Alps. Displays include
With the Reuss valley in the Museo Nazionale del enormous crystals – weighing
canton of Uri to the north, and San Gottardo over 1.5 tons – found near the
the Ticino valley to the south, " § 091 869 15 25 # Jun– St Gotthard Pass. Together,
the St Gotthard Pass lies at an Oct: 9am–6pm daily these two museums provide
altitude of 2,108 m (6,916 ft). It fascinating insight into the
is on the principal route from Swiss military mentality.
northern Europe to Italy and
has been used as a major 24 "
Alpine pass for over 700 years. Museo Sasso San INSIDER TIP
The pass is crossed by three Gottardo Wrap Up at
tunnels. In 1882 the Gotthard ! E4 ⌂ Passo del S the Museum
Rail Tunnel opened, but it was Gottardo, Airolo # Jun– Visiting the Museo
not until almost a century later Oct: 10:30am–3pm daily Sasso San Gottardo?
that a road tunnel followed, ∑ sasso-sangottardo.ch Then dress warmly.
in 1980. In 2016, Switzerland Even during summer,
inaugurated the world’s Located on the historic the under ground
longest rail tunnel here, mountain pass of the same tunnels and caverns
the 57­km­ (35­mile­) long name, the Museo Sasso are cold and damp.
Gotthard Base Tunnel, San Gottardo is set in a
233

232-233_EW_Switzerland.indd 233 15/11/2018 10:08