Pass of the Great Saint Bernard

ROUTE FROM MARTIGNY TO IVREA BY THE PASS OF THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD. THEEE is no passage of the Alps which affords to the traveller greater pleasure, either in the enjoyment or the recollection of his journey to Italy, than that by the Great Saint Bernard ; for besides the wildness of this Alpine pass, and the beauty of the valley of Aosta, through which the road to Turin continues after it leaves the mountains, the kind reception which he ex- periences from the religious community at the hospice, on the summit of the Saint Bernard, is remembered as long as he can be grateful for the devotion which induces these excellent men to offer to the traveller their welcome, and spread for him their hospitality in the wilderness. The road which conducts to the Pennine Alps, or the Great Saint Bernard, from the valley of the Rhone, commences near the confluence of this river with the Drance, at Martigny, a town of importance in early history, as Octodurum, the capital of the Veragri, a people of the Valais, against whom Sergius Galba was sent by Julius Caesar to check the outrages and rob- beries which they, together with the Nantuates who inhabited the valley below Saint Maurice, and the Seduni, a people of the Valais between Visp and Sion, committed upon the merchants who, even at this early period, traversed the Pennine Alps.* * It is highly probable that the passage by the Great Saint Bernard was not the only one guarded by Galba, though Octodurum was his head-quarters in commanding the Pennine Alps ; for this name was given to the range of mountains from the Great Saint Bernard to the Simplón, which includes the passes from Italy into the Valais which are above the station of Galba, those of the Simplón and the Mont Moro. This Alpine pass lies between Visp in the Valais and the Val Anzasca in Piedmont, and the remains of an old road may be clearly traced over the Moro. The Val Anzasca NO. VI. 6 4 PASSES OF THE ALPS. Bourrit says that the encampment of Galba may still he traced at Martigny, hut this is uncertain and improbable, though numerous relics remain of the importance of Octodurum, when it was a Roman station. Upon the appointment of a Christian prelate in the Valais, in the fourth century, he bore the title of bishop of Octodurum. Two hundred years later the see was removed to Sion, but the title was continued. The subsequent history of the Valaisans presents few periods of relief from the outrages which were practised upon the people during the long struggle of the bishops of Sion for temporal power against the feu- dal lords of the Valais. The scene from the old castle of Mar- tigny is very fine, particularly looking up the valley of the Rhone. * In this direction the view extends to the Mont Saint Gothard; clown the valley the scene is bounded by the Jura, and in the direction of the mountains of the Great Saint Bernard, the eye commands the town of Martigny, and the estuary of the Drance. To ascend to the pass of the Great Saint Bernard, it is neces- sary, after leaving the inn at Martigny, where travellers usually rest, to traverse the Bourg, a narrow dirty village about half a league distant. A little beyond this place the river Drance is crossed, and the road proceeds along its left bank. Soon after passing the river, a path on the right leads over the Forclaz to was distinguished very early for its mines of iron, copper, and gold. Strabo and Pliny both mention the gold mines of the Ictymuli, whose locality the author thinks, though D'Anville and Cluverius place it in Upper Val Sesia, is preserved in the name of Pie de Muliera, a town at the entrance of the Val Anzasca, where the gold ore is reduced which is still raised in the mines of the valley. Pliny states that a law existed among the Ictymuli, which forbade their employing more than five thousand men in the gold mines ; this is evidence of an important commerce in their valley, which probably led to frequent communication with the people of the Valais. Without admitting this it is difficult to understand wiry Galba should have attacked the Seduni as well as the Veragri, and have taken many of their forts. They could not have offered any inter- ruption to travellers by the Great Saint Bernard, as they were a people of the Valais far above the valley of the Drance. * Plate the First. The old castle, in a commanding situation above La Batia, the village near Martigny through which the route to the Simplón passes, was built by Pierre of Savoy, to command and oppress the wretched Valaisans, who were within the reach of his power. This château was subsequently possessed by the bishops of Sion, and the inhabitants of Martigny have horrible traditions associated with it. The round tower has a dungeon of great depth, with which there is no communication except through a hole in the stone floor above it ; the heart recoils from the sound and emotion, which a stone dropped into it from the chamber above produces. .

Load more