Little St Bernard Pass

The Little St Bernard Pass (French: Col du Petit Saint-Bernard, Italian: Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo) is a mountain pass in the Alps on the France–Italy border. Its saddle is at 2188 metres above sea level. It is located between Savoie, France, and Aosta Valley, Italy, to the south of the Mont Blanc Massif, exactly on the main alpine watershed. There is also a Great St. Bernard Pass and a San Bernardino Pass.

Although damaged by a road that runs through it, the pass is the site of a stone circle measuring 72 m (236 ft) in diameter. A standing stone once stood in the middle. It has not been precisely dated but from coin finds it has been attributed to the Iron Age, possibly being a ceremonial site of the Tarentaisian culture (c. 725 BC–450 BC). A Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter was later erected nearby along with a Roman mansio serving travellers along the pass, and it is thought that Carthaginian general Hannibal used this route.

The stone circle was partly restored in the 19th century.

Read more about Little St Bernard Pass:  Details of Climb, Appearances in Tour De France

Famous quotes containing the words bernard and/or pass:

    Until the men of action clear out the talkers we who have social consciences are at the mercy of those who have none.
    —George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)

    Fan the sinking flame of hilarity with the wing of friendship; and pass the rosy wine.
    Charles Dickens (1812–1870)