Great Saint Bernard Pass

Great Saint Bernard Pass, mountain pass, western Europe, on the Swiss-Italian border, east of Mont Blanc, about 2,468 m/8,098 ft above sea level. Near the pass stands the hospice, or monastery, of Saint Bernard, founded in the 10th century by the French monk Saint Bernard of Menthon. It is occupied by the Augustinian friars who made it famous by their ministrations to travelers. At the summit of the pass stands the foundation of a small, imperial Roman temple of Jupiter Poeninus. In 1964 a highway tunnel, more than 5.6 km (3.5 mi) long, under the pass was opened. The Little Saint Bernard Pass, southwest of Mont Blanc, in southeastern France near the Italian border, is about 2188 m (about 7178 ft) above sea level. It too has a hospice founded by St. Bernard.