St. Gotthard Pass
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St. Gotthard Pass is a pass in Switzerland at 2108m, between Airolo, Ticino, and Andermatt, Canton of Uri, connecting the northern (German speaking) part of Switzerland with the Italian-speaking part Ticino, and the route onwards to Milan. Though the pass was locally known in Antiquity, it was not generally used until the early 13th century, because it involved fording the turbulent Schöllen, swollen with snowmelt during the early summer, in the narrow steep-sided Schöllenen Gorge, below Andermatt. The bridge that was built under such challenging conditions was one of so many "Devil's Bridges" that the legends about them form a category in the Aarne-Thompson classification system for folktales (number 1191) [1]. The Reuss was so difficult to ford, that a Swiss herdsman, it was told, wished the devil would make a bridge. The Devil appeared, but required that the first to cross be given to him. The mountaineer agreed, but drove a chamois across ahead of him, fooling the Adversary [2].
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The bridge permitted traffic to follow the Reuss to its headwaters and over the saddle at the top—a watershed between the Rhine and the North Sea and the Po and the Mediterranean— then down the Ticino towards Milan. It carried only foot traffic and pack animals until 1775, when the first carriage made the journey on an improved road.
The pass itself was dedicated as early as 1236 to the Bavarian Saint Gotthard (Godehard of Hildesheim, ca 960 – May 4, 1038).
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The 15km St. Gotthard Tunnel opened in 1882 for railway traffic at a cost of 277 workers' lives and replaced the pass road. A 17km highway tunnel opened in 1980. A second neraby rail tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is currently under construction. When completed it will be the longest rail tunnel in the world at 57km. Together with two smaller tunnels planned near Zurich and Lugano, the new tunnel will reduce the 3hour 40min rail journey from Zurich to Milan by one hour.