Lukmanier Pass

The Lukmanier Pass is located at almost 2,000 m above sea level between the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grisons. It can be reached by crossing the Blenio valley which is the sunniest of the Swiss ones, therefore called "Valle del Sole".

When the Disentis Monastery was founded around 720, the Lukmanier Pass, which could be overcome without any great difficulty and which was also a lot deeper than the other passes in the Alps, became very important. During the Staufer period it was considered the most important north-south connection to Italy. However, he quickly lost this role to the Gotthard and Splügen passes. In 1374 the Disentis Monastery built the "Hospezi S. Maria" with a chapel on the top of the pass. Both had to give way to the construction of the reservoir in 1964. The new hospice at its current location was inaugurated on August 1, 1965 and the chapel in 1967.