Col de Montgenèvre (West side)

Col de Montgenèvre (West side)

The Col de Montgenèvre is a high mountain pass in the Cottian Alps, in France 2 kilometres away from Italy. The pass takes its name from the village Montgenèvre (Hautes-Alpes), which lies in the vicinity. It links Briançon in the upper Durance valley with the Susa Valley and its communes of Cesana Torinese and Susa in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont. The Col de Montgenèvre is an important road connection, and is kept open in winter. Its importance has always lain in the fact that it is the lowest of the principal crossings of the main range of the Alps between France and Italy. It was known to the Romans before 118 BC, when Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus started construction of the Via Domitia road, which terminated at the pass. Pompey used it on his campaign to Spain in 77 BC, claiming to have opened up a route more favorable than hitherto. It was subsequently used by Julius Caesar in travelling to Gaul and became thereafter the main route for travel between Roman Italy and southern Gaul or Spain. The Col de Montgenèvre is considered a possible route for Hannibal’s famous passage through the Alps on his journey from the Rhone river valley to Italy. Through this pass Charles VIII of France led his army in September 1494 on his way to capture the Kingdom of Naples, which would spark 65 years of intermittent warfare up and down Italy, later known as the Italian Wars. Due to the strategic importance of this pass, the lowest over this part of the Alps, several forts have been built, such as Briançon and Fort Janus.