Mont Cenis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Italian commune, see Moncenisio (commune).
 |
This article or section needs to be updated. Parts of this article or section have been identified as no longer being up to date. Please update the article to reflect recent events, and remove this template when finished. |
 |
| Col du Mont Cenis | |
|---|---|
 Reservoir at the pass |
|
| Elevation | 2081 m. |
| Location |  France |
| Range | Graian Alps/Cottian Alps |
| Coordinates | |
| Traversed by | Route nationale 6 |
Mont Cenis (Italian: Moncenisio) is a massif and pass (el. 2081 m./ 6827 ft.) in Savoy in France which forms the limit between the Cottian and Graian Alps.
A road was built across it between 1803 and 1810 by Napoleon, while a light railway (named after its inventor, Mr. Fell, and worked by English engine-drivers) was opened alongside the road in 1868, but was destroyed in 1871, on the opening of the Mont Cenis Tunnel.
This tunnel (highest point 1295 m/4249 ft) is really 17 miles west of the pass, below the Col de Fréjus. From Chambéry the line runs up the Isère valley, but soon bears through that of the Arc or the Maurienne past St Jean de Maurienne to Modane (61 mi from Chambéry). The tunnel is 13 km in length, and leads to Bardonecchia, some way below which, at Oulx the line joins the road from the Col de Montgenèvre.
Thence the valley of the Dora Riparia is followed to Turin (64.5 mi from Modane). The carriage road mounts the Arc valley for 16 mi from Modane to Lanslebourg, whence it is 8 mi to the hospice, a little way beyond the summit of the pass. The descent lies through the Cenis valley to Susa (37 mi from Modane) where the road joins the railway.
To the south-west of the Mont Cenis is the Little Mont Cenis (7166 ft.) which leads from the summit plateau (in Italy) of the main pass to the Etache valley on the French slope and so to Bramans in the Arc valley. This pass was crossed in 1689 by the Vaudois, and by some authors is believed to have been Hannibals Pass.
[edit] History
Being a pass in the Alps, the Mont Cenis was used several times in history. One example is the descent of Constantine I to Italy, to fight against Maxentius.
[edit] External links
[edit] Reference
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
