Saint Gothard Pass

The Gotthard Pass (Passo del San Gottardo in Italian, Gotthardpass in German) is a pass of the Swiss Alps, culminating at an altitude of 2 108 m, which connects Andermatt in the canton of Uri to Airolo in the canton of Ticino.
The vast glacial basin that leads to the pass itself is a passageway that has been used for centuries, and has contributed to the prosperity of the cities of Milan and Zurich, linking them directly. It would have been open around 1220 thanks in particular to the construction of the Devil's Bridge and therefore has the advantage over the other passes of the Central Alps to be relatively low and to have short valleys and easy access. It is not foreign to the constitution of a first confederation of cantons (Confederation of III cantons) at the end of the thirteenth century around Lake Lucerne and towards Ticino. The canton of Uri now enjoys a new importance and potential revenue from right of way. His dependence on the Count of Zurich Rudolph II of the House of Habsburg and thus redeemed in the name of Frederick II in 1231 and the status of imperial immediacy is even granted.

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