Hospice at the Great St Bernard, with ancient road in foreground.

The Great St Bernard Pass (Fr. Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, It. Colle del Gran San Bernardo) is the most ancient pass through the Western Alps, with evidence of use as far back as the Bronze Age, surviving traces of the Roman road and more recently the path of Napoleon's army into Italy in 1800. It is located at 45°52.2′N 7°10.3167′E. A hospice for travellers founded in 1049, named after Saint Bernard of Menthon, which later became famous for its St. Bernard dogs. The hospice still functions, occupying two buildings, of 1560 and 1898 (illustration, right). Pope Pius XI confirmed Bernard as patron saint of the Alps in 1923. Photo of Great St Bernard Pass, taken June 1996 by Stan Shebs and licensed under GFDL, 700px across File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Photo of Great St Bernard Pass, taken June 1996 by Stan Shebs and licensed under GFDL, 700px across File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... Italian ( , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 70 million people, primarily in Italy. ... In a range of hills, or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch or bealach) is a lower point that allows easier access through the range. ... The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... 1800 (MDCCC) was an common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Youth hostel in Rome. ... Events Leo IX becomes pope. ... St. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: St. ... Pope Pius XI (Latin: ) (May 31, 1857 – February 10, 1939), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, reigned as Pope from February 6, 1922 and sovereign of Vatican City from 1929 until his death on February 10, 1939. ...

The pass runs northeast-southwest through the Valais Alps at an elevation of 2,469 m (8,101 ft). From the north (Switzerland), the route to the pass follows the Dranse River valley above Martigny, then into the wild and desolate valley of the Dranse d'Entremont. The Great St Bernard Tunnel (and the main road) plunges through the mountains at the 1,915 m (6,283 ft.) level; after the construction of the Simplon Tunnel further east in 1905, railroad traffic partly superseded the St Bernard road. The much smaller historic road winding over the pass itself, which is part of the Swiss border with Italy is only passable June to September. On the south side of the pass, the Great St Bernard Valley is drained by the Artanavaz River, which runs down to Aosta. The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... This article is about a foot as a unit of length. ... Martigny is a small city in Switzerland, located in the canton of Valais at an altitude of 475 meters. ... Simplon Pass (Italian: Sempione) is a mountain pass at 2,008 m (6,589 ft) in the Lepontine Alps between Switzerland and Italy. ... Aosta Aosta (French: Aoste) is the principal city of the Valle dAosta in the Italian Alps, north of Turin. ...

Just below the pass is a small lake, and several buildings making up the hospice straddle the pass itself. The old road may still be seen, above the paved road. The minor peaks Mont Mort and Pic de Drona flank the pass. The elevation is such that snow may keep the pass closed until June, and indeed the motivation for the hospice was to aid travellers overcome by the difficulties of the crossing. For other uses, see Snow (disambiguation). ...

Likewise, the dogs from this area, known as St. Bernards, were bred to be large enough to handle deep snow and to scent out lost persons. It is often said that they carried small casks of brandy around their necks (although this might be only a legend), in the belief that the liquor had medicinal properties (in reality, the effect would have been more psychological than physiological, as alcohol even increases the rate of heat loss in people suffering from hypothermia). Wikimedia Commons has media related to: St. ... Brandy pot stills at the Van Ryn Brandy Cellar near Stellenbosch, South Africa Brandy (short for brandywine, from Dutch brandewijn—burning wine) is a general term for distilled wine, usually 40–60% ethyl alcohol by volume. ... Hypothermia is a medical condition in which the victims core body temperature has dropped to significantly below normal and normal metabolism begins to be impaired. ...

The Grand St.Bernard Pass (which is on the way from Turin to Switzerland) was featured in the film The Italian Job where Michael Caine and his gang crashed their coach full of gold and ultimately came up with the immortal line "hang on a moment lads, I've got a great idea . . . . " Turin (Italian: ; Piedmontese: Turin) is a major industrial city in north-western Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the west bank of the Po River. ... The Italian Job is a British comedy caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. ... Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth in Batman Begins Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, CBE (born 14 March 1933), known professionally as Sir Michael Caine, is a two-time Oscar-winning English film actor. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ...

External links

• Climbbybike.com: All information on and profile of the Col du Grand Saint Bernard

• History of the St Bernard Pass
• Aerial views of the pass
• Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace Gran San Bernardo Pass Photos