Resia Pass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Resia Pass | |
|---|---|
 The campanile in Lake Resia |
|
| Elevation | 1504 m. |
| Location |  Austria /  Italy |
| Range | Alps |
| Coordinates | |
Resia Pass (Italian: Passo di Resia, German: Reschenpass) or Reschen Pass is an Alpine pass (1504 m) located at the Italian-Austrian border, close to the border with Switzerland. It connects the two countries, like the Brenner Pass further to the east.
Before the Roman era, a path linked the valley of the Inn River with the valley of the Adige (de. Etsch; lad. Adesc) river. The current Resia Pass was part of the Via Claudia Augusta, opened in 50 AD.
Until the 19th century, the pass was an alternative to the passes of Graubünden. Unlike the wide and smooth southern side, the northern side has a steep and narrow bottleneck, the Finstermünzpaß (1188m). Until 1854 the custom houses between Austria and Switzerland were found on the fortified bridges of the Inn at Finstermünz.
Between 1850-54, Carl von Ghega (who already had built the rail-road of Semmering, from Lower Austria to Styria, through Vienna and Graz) and Joseph Duile built a new road from the fortress of Nauders (1394m) to Cajetansbrücke near Pfunds (972m). The projects for a road from Reschen were not accomplished.
An additional mountain road leads from the Inn valley from Martina/Vinadi up to Norbertshöhe and Nauders, providing a shorter way from Switzerland to Italy compared to the longer road via Cajetansbrücke.
In 1950, on the Italian versant, the artificial Lake Resia was created, famous for the bell tower which emerges out of the water in front of the village of Curon Venosta (German: Graun im Vinschgau).
[edit] External links
