FUNIMAG, the magazine of the funiculars

The drawbridges of the funicolare San Antonio - Passo Mendola
(Standseilbahn St. Anton - Mendelpass)
italy
Italy

Text and photos by Michel Azéma

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Introduction

We are now in the north of Italy, in the Alto Adige province. Alto Adige is the italian name of the South-Tyrol which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I and the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919) which decided to attach the South-Tyrol province to Italy as a compensation.

That is why all the names of the places and localities are both written in Italian and German.

  Italy
map of Caldaro

Few kilometers to the south of Bolzano (Bozen), the spectacular road Appiano-Caldaro-Passo Mendola was built in 1880 to reach the numerous hotels of Mendola. From the Mount Penegal (1737 m) the panorama is great to the Trentin, Alto Adige and the Dolomites. Passo Mendola (Mendelpass) was made famous, since 1898, by some visits of the Austro-Hungarian Empress Elizabeth (Sissi).

The funiculare Caldaro (San Antonio) - Passo Mendola was built in 1903 to make easier the access of the pass and also to link the railway of the Valley of Adige to the Ferrovia Electtrica Alta Anaunia (Taio - Fondo - Mendola) on the other side of the Mount Penegal.

 

Menu | Introduction | The drawbridges | How the drawbridges were working | The funicular

Michel Azéma, Paris (France)
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