View source for Reschen Pass

{{Short description|Mountain pass of the Alps between South Tyrol, Italy and Tyrol, Austria}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name = Reschen pass
| photo = Reschenpass Passhoehe Blick Sued.jpg
| photo_caption = Pass summit at Reschen, looking southwards
| elevation_m = 1504
| elevation_ref = 
| traversed = 
| map = Alps
| map_caption = Location of the Reschen Pass
| map_size = 
| label = Reschen Pass
| coords = {{coord|46.848|N|10.505|E|type:pass|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| location = [[Austria]]–[[Italy]] border
| range = [[Alps]]
| topo = 
}}
'''Reschen Pass''' ({{langx|de|Reschenpass}}, {{IPA|de|ˈrɛʃn̩ˌpas|pron|De-Reschenpass.ogg}}; {{langx|it|Passo di Resia}} {{IPA|it|ˈpasso di ˈrɛːzja|}}) is a [[mountain pass]] across the [[main chain of the Alps]], connecting the Upper [[Inn (river)|Inn]] Valley in the northwest with the [[Vinschgau]] region in the southeast. Since [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|1919]], the border between [[South Tyrol]], [[Italy]] and [[Tyrol (state)|Tyrol]], [[Austria]] has approximately followed the watershed, the pass summit at a height of {{convert|1504|m|ft}} being completely on Italian territory.

==Geography==
===Location===
Reschen is one of the [[principal passes of the Alps]], located between [[Brenner Pass]] to the east and the [[Splügen Pass|Splügen]] to the west. It is part of the [[drainage divide]] between the [[Danube]] in the north and the [[Adige]] in the south.

The village of Reschen (''Resia'') is directly located on the watershed, on the shore of the [[Reschensee]] reservoir, built in 1950 and famous for the bell tower which emerges from the water in front of [[Graun im Vinschgau|Graun]] municipality. The border with [[Nauders]], Austria runs about {{convert|2|km|mi}} north of the pass summit towards the [[tripoint]] with [[Valsot]], [[Switzerland]] in the west.

===Climate===
Reschen has a cool summer [[humid continental climate]]. Winter highs can reach around {{convert|8-10|°C|0|abbr=on}}, but can also be as cold as {{convert|-10|°C|0|abbr=on}}. In summertime, maxima can be as high as {{convert|25-28|°C|0|abbr=on}}, or as low as single figures. However, minimum temperatures generally stay above {{convert|0|°C|0|abbr=on}}.

{{Weather box
| location = Resia Pass ITA, 1990–2018 normals, 2009-2018 sun hours.
| metric first = Y
| single line = Y
| Jan record high C = 13
| Feb record high C = 14
| Mar record high C = 20
| Apr record high C = 21
| May record high C = 25
| Jun record high C = 30
| Jul record high C = 30
| Aug record high C = 32
| Sep record high C = 29
| Oct record high C = 23
| Nov record high C = 19
| Dec record high C = 14
| year record high C = 32
| Jan high C = 1.1
| Feb high C = 2.4
| Mar high C = 6.6
| Apr high C = 10.0
| May high C = 14.2
| Jun high C = 18.1
| Jul high C = 20.2
| Aug high C = 19.8
| Sep high C = 15.7
| Oct high C = 11.3
| Nov high C = 5.4
| Dec high C = 1.7
| year high C = 10.5
| Jan mean C = -2.7
| Feb mean C = -1.8
| Mar mean C = 2.1
| Apr mean C = 5.4
| May mean C = 9.7
| Jun mean C = 13.3
| Jul mean C = 15.3
| Aug mean C = 15.2
| Sep mean C = 11.4
| Oct mean C = 7.4
| Nov mean C = 2.2
| Dec mean C = -1.5
| year mean C = 6.3
| Jan low C = -6.4
| Feb low C = -6.1
| Mar low C = -2.5
| Apr low C = 0.9
| May low C = 5.3
| Jun low C = 8.5
| Jul low C = 10.4
| Aug low C = 10.5
| Sep low C = 7.2
| Oct low C = 3.6
| Nov low C = -0.9
| Dec low C = -4.8
| year low C = 2.1
| Jan record low C = -20.0
| Feb record low C = -20.0
| Mar record low C = -22.0
| Apr record low C = -14.0
| May record low C = -6.2
| Jun record low C = -1.0
| Jul record low C = 1.0
| Aug record low C = 0.0
| Sep record low C = -2.8
| Oct record low C = -10.0
| Nov record low C = -13.0
| Dec record low C = -19.0
| year record low C = -22.0
| rain colour = green
| Jan rain mm = 28
| Feb rain mm = 29
| Mar rain mm = 29
| Apr rain mm = 37
| May rain mm = 71
| Jun rain mm = 64
| Jul rain mm = 84
| Aug rain mm = 91
| Sep rain mm = 57
| Oct rain mm = 38
| Nov rain mm = 47
| Dec rain mm = 31
| year rain mm = 606
| Jan humidity    = 70.4
| Feb humidity    = 67.6
| Mar humidity    = 63.0
| Apr humidity    = 63.1
| May humidity    = 66.1
| Jun humidity    = 66.6
| Jul humidity    = 66.7
| Aug humidity    = 70.1
| Sep humidity    = 72.3
| Oct humidity    = 75.1
| Nov humidity    = 73.8
| Dec humidity    = 71.8
| year humidity   = 68.9
|Jan sun = 138.6
|Feb sun = 124.0
|Mar sun = 161.2
|Apr sun = 233.6
|May sun = 250.7
|Jun sun = 270.6
|Jul sun = 311.6
|Aug sun = 304.9
|Sep sun = 265.7
|Oct sun = 180.5
|Nov sun = 142.3
|Dec sun = 147.8
|year sun = 2531.2

|source = Il Meteo,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ilmeteo.it/portale/archivio-meteo/Tubre|title= Archivio Meteo Tubre|publisher= www.ilmeteo.it|accessdate=March 15, 2017 }}</ref> Il Meteo<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ilmeteo.it/portale/medie-climatiche/Tubre|title= Clima Tubre|publisher= www.ilmeteo.it|accessdate=March 15, 2017 }}</ref> (for precipitation figures), and  World Weather Online<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldweatheronline.com/reschen-weather-averages/veneto/it.aspx|title= Reschen Monthly Climate Averages|publisher= www.worldweatheronline.com|accessdate=January 1, 2018 }}</ref> (for sun hours, 2009-2018.)
}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Average number of days per month with:
|-
|  || January || February || March || April || May || June || July || August || September || October || November || December || Year
|-
| Maximum temperature below freezing || 12.9 || 8.7 || 2.5 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 3.7 || 11.3 || 39.5
|-
| Minimum temperature below freezing || 29.2 || 27.1 || 23.3 || 12.2 || 1.2 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.2 || 5.4 || 18.3 || 29.0 || 145.8
|}
The above table is for the period 1990–2017.

==History==
Even before the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] era, an unnamed [[bridle path]] linked the valley of the Inn River with the valley of the Adige ''(de. Etsch; lad. Adesc)'' river. The current Reschen Pass route was part of the [[Via Claudia Augusta]], opened about 50 AD. Later superseded by the Via Raetia across Brenner Pass, built at the behest of Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] in the 2nd century, it remained one of the few [[Roman roads]] leading into the [[Raetia]] province and to [[Augsburg|Augusta Vindelicorum]]. During the [[Middle Ages]], the pass was an alternative to the passes of [[Graubünden]] in the west, though from the 14th century onwards the parallel Brenner Pass road from [[Bolzano|Bozen]] through the [[Eisacktal|Eisack Valley]] in the east gained more and more importance.

Unlike the wide and smooth southern side, the northern side of Reschen Pass has a steep and narrow bottleneck at Finstermünz (1188 m). Archduke [[Sigismund, Archduke of Austria|Sigismund of Austria]] had a fortress built here in 1472, and until 1854 a custom house between the Austrian [[County of Tyrol]] and [[Switzerland]] sat between two fortified bridges over the Inn river.

The Austrian engineer [[Carl Ritter von Ghega]] (who already had built the [[Semmering railway]] line from [[Vienna]] through [[Lower Austria]] and [[Styria]] to [[Graz]]) and Joseph Duile laid out plans for a new road from the fortress of Nauders (1394 m) to Cajetansbrücke near [[Pfunds]] (972 m), which was built between 1850 and 1854. This road leads to Reschen Pass along the Eastern, Austrian banking of the Inn, connecting the Austrian lands via Austrian soil. An additional mountain road leads from the Inn valley from the Swiss hamlet Martina resp. the Austrian Martinsbrück up to Norbertshöhe and Nauders, providing a shorter way from Switzerland to Italy than the longer road via Cajetansbrücke. Several structures for a projected railway connection were also built; however, these plans were finally abandoned after World War II.

==See also==
* [[List of highest paved roads in Europe]]
* [[List of mountain passes#Europe|List of mountain passes]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Reschenpass}}
*{{Cite EB1911|last= Coolidge |first= William Augustus Brevoort |author-link= W. A. B. Coolidge |wstitle=Reschen Scheideck |volume=23 |page=181}}
*[http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?Col=Passo%20di%20Resia%20&qryMountainID=3087 Profile on climbbybike.com]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mountain passes of the Alps]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of Italy]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of Tyrol (federal state)]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of South Tyrol]]
[[Category:Austria–Italy border crossings]]
[[Category:Rhaetian Alps]]