| Julier Pass | |
|---|---|
 View of the Julier Pass fromPiz Polaschin | |
| Elevation | 2,284 m (7,493 ft) |
| Traversed by | Paved road |
| Location | Graubünden, Switzerland |
| Range | Albula Alps |
| Coordinates | 46°28′20″N9°43′40″E / 46.47222°N 9.72778°E /46.47222; 9.72778 |
  Julier Pass Location in Switzerland | |
TheJulier Pass (Romansh:Pass dal Güglia, German:Julierpass, ItalianPasso del Giulia) (elev. 2284m) is amountain pass in theAlbula Alps ofSwitzerland. It connects theEngadin valley with centralGraubünden. At its summit, the pass crosses thedrainage divide between thebasins of the riversRhine andDanube.
The Julier Pass lies between the towns ofBivio to the west andSilvaplana to the east.[1] It is part of the Swiss N29national road, but does not require avignette (road tax sticker). The pass was heavily used in the Roman era and contains the most artifacts of Roman roads of any location in Graubünden.[2] The modern road was built between 1820 and 1828. Between 1935 and 1940, the Julier Pass became the first Swiss alpine road paved withasphalt.
The Julier Pass is the most important northern entrance to the Engadin valley and one of three such paved road passes, the others being theAlbula Pass and theFlüela Pass.[3]
The highest point of the Julier Pass is 2284meters above sea level. The Julier Pass lies south ofPiz Bardella,Piz Lagrev, andPiz Julier, and north ofPiz da las Coluonnas andPiz Polaschin. A few metres south of the summit is a small lake, Lej da las Culuonnas.[3]
The two-lane road over the Julier Pass is generally open totrucks withfour-wheel drive even when covered with snow.[4] Cars are required to havesnow tires in the winter, andsnow chains may be required, depending on the conditions.[5]
_B%25C3%25B6hringer_02.JPG)
Originally a cantonal road, the Julier Pass was adopted into theSwiss federal highway system on 1 January 2020 as part of the new N29 fromThusis viaTiefencastel to Silvaplana. The N29 highway is 56.25 km (34.95 mi) long and connects to the N13 highway at Thusis-Süd.[6][7] Previously, the stretch from Thusis to Tiefencastle was designated as the H417main road and the stretch from Tiefencastel to Silvaplana was the H3a main road.[8][9] Since the N29 is a 3rd class national road, vehicles using it are not required to display avignette.[10]
The Julier Pass was home to a temporary theater tower from 31 July 2017 to 31 August 2023. The 30-meter-high wooden tower was built by Nova Fundaziun Origen, a cultural foundation started in 2005. The theater tower cost 2.5 millionSwiss francs and was ceremonially opened byFederal CouncillorAlain Berset. As of 2023, Origen is planning a permanent replacement costingCHF 25 million.[11][12]
The Julier Pass was in regular use during theBronze and Iron Ages.[13] It saw heavy traffic in theRoman era, evidenced by the countless coins and remains of Roman roads discovered in the region; it has the most artifacts of the Roman roads of any location in the canton.[14][13] Two monumentalsoapstone columns flank the modern pass road at its summit; excavations in the 1930s revealed that the columns were part of a Romansanctuary.[14]
Historically, the Julier Pass competed with the shorter but steeperSeptimer Pass.[14] Together, the two passes made up theObere Strasse (lit. 'upper road'), which continued northwards viaLenzerheide toChur, and southwards via theMaloja Pass.[14][15] During the Roman era, the Julier and Septimer Passes wereroads suitable for two-wheeledcarts, the largest vehicles able to negotiate the steep slopes,[16] and it is theorized that carts were sent over the Julier Pass when loaded and over the Septimer Pass when empty.[14] At the time, the less-developedSplügen Pass was only suitable forpack animals.[16]
The Julier Pass lost importance in 1387, when a small road over the Septimer Pass was built. In 1473, the path through theViamala was expanded, and theObere Strasse was no longer preferred for transalpine travel.[14] The Viamala was part of theUntere Strasse (lit. 'lower road'), which ran via the Splügen Pass andSan Bernardino Pass.[17] Thus, in theHigh andLate Middle Ages, the Julier Pass was mainly used to provide access to theupper Engadin,Bernina Pass, andFuorn Pass.[14][17] This shift led theBishop of Chur, who controlled theObere Strasse, to acquireThusis andHeinzenberg from theCounts of Werdenberg, giving him control of theUntere Strasse and a monopoly over the passes of theThree Leagues.[17]
In thefirst millennium, the passes of Graubünden were controlled by a patchwork of feudal lords. By thesecond millennium, transport over the passes was operated by six cooperatives calledPorten orRodgenossenschaften. ThePorten were commercial enterprises which transported goods for a fee. They were also responsible for maintaining the passes and roads and would work with local towns and governments to improve road infrastructure. ThePorten, as associations ofteamsters (Fuhrleute), also functioned similarly toguilds, with 3500 members by the late 18th century. Goods had to be offloaded and re-loaded onto new carts or pack animals for eachPort that transported them, with the result that goods moving from Chur toChiavenna orBellinzona had to be off- and re-loaded no less than six times. Despite this inefficiency, thePorten of theUntere Strasse were the preferred transalpine route, ahead of theGotthard andBrenner, except in times of war, until they were overtaken by the Brenner Pass in the early 19th century. By that point, large, efficienthorse-drawn vehicles could cross the Brenner, allowing a single teamster to transport 30Zentner (3000 pounds) of goods. In Graubünden, road conditions were still so poor that only pack animals or two-wheeled carts could cross the passes.[18][14]
.jpg)
The 1803Act of Mediation turned the Three Leagues into theSwiss canton ofGraubünden, which returned economic stability to the region after the chaos of theItalian and Swiss expedition. By this point, the Brenner Pass had overtaken Graubünden as the most efficient transalpine route, largely due to better road infrastructure. The poor roads in Graubünden were especially troublesome when they prevented the northward transport of large amounts of grain during theYear Without a Summer (1816) and subsequent years of famine; most of the grain purchased abroad spoiled in Italian harbors or at the foot of the Alps. This resulted in strong support in Graubünden for building roads across the Alpine passes.[19]
The first twopaved roads (Kunststrassen) over the alpine passes built in Graubünden were along the San Bernardino and Splügen Passes of theUntere Strasse. In 1816, a six-meter-wide road along the 100-kilometer-long San Bernardino route was plotted byTicino State CouncillorGiulio Pocobelli [de] within a few days. Although supported by Ticino and theKingdom of Sardinia, the project was difficult to finance and was opposed by cantons along the Gotthard route andAustria, which controlledLombardy. Eventually, with funding from the merchants of Chur, thePorten, and the municipalities along the route, construction of the San Bernardino commercial road began on 14 September 1818 and was completed by the summer of 1823. In the meantime, Lombardy constructed a four-meter-wide road over the Splügen Pass, which was completed by the summer of 1822.[20]
Between 1820 and 1828, the canton of Graubünden expanded the road from Chur toCastasegna via the Julier and Maloja Passes into a five-meter-wide commercial road, at a cost of 1.24 million Francs.[21] The Julier Pass was chosen over the Septimer for its gentler slope, lower avalanche risk, and access to the Engadin valley.[14][22] The construction of this new road proved prescient when massive flooding of theHinterrhein in 1834 obstructed theUntere Strasse to San Bernardino at 72 locations and destroyed 24 bridges. The new road allowed the displaced transalpine traffic to be rerouted over the unaffected Julier Pass without issue.[21] From 1835 onward, the chief engineer of the canton of Graubünden,Richard La Nicca, worked to improve theObere Strasse, including the Julier Pass. La Nicca was self-taught and mentored by Pocobelli, who together came to define this period ofKunststrasse construction. The many bridges La Nicca designed have been praised for their unique and aesthetic design; many have lasted to the present day.[23]
In the second half of the 19th century, the Julier Pass was most notable for providing access to the spa towns of the upper Engadin, while transalpine traffic preferred the Splügen route ornew alpine railways. Proposed plans for a Julier railway were never realized and the 1903 opening of theAlbula railway line through theAlbula Tunnel all but ended road traffic over the Julier Pass.[14]
In 1923, theSwiss federal government forced Graubünden to open a through road forautomobiles, and the canton chose the Julier route for this role. The Julier route was again expanded and upgraded between 1935 and 1940, becoming the first Swiss alpine road with anasphalt surface.[14][24] Today, the Julier Pass is the most important northern entrance to the Engadin valley.[14] Around 3,000 vehicles cross the Julier Pass every day.[22]
| International | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
