Livigno Pass, Mountain pass at Italy-Switzerland border, Grisons region.
Livigno Pass is a mountain crossing at 2,315 meters that connects the Bernina Pass in Switzerland to Livigno in Italy via a paved road. The route serves as an official border crossing point with a customs station where travelers between the countries are processed.
In September 2016 the Grisons cantonal government set the seasonal regime still in force: the pass opens no earlier than the first Monday of June and closes no later than the last Friday of November, with earlier closure possible when avalanches threaten. The road branches off the southern ramp of the Bernina Pass and, in summer, offers a toll-free alternative to the Munt la Schera tunnel for reaching Livigno.
The pass marks a rare inversion: the Swiss Val Poschiavo lies south of the Alps but drains into the Adda, while the Italian Val di Livigno lies north of the Alps and drains into the Inn. Only the Predil Pass shares this arrangement. Livigno itself is a duty-free zone, so the Italian customs house stands right on the pass.
The pass is closed in winter: since 2016 Graubünden opens it no earlier than the first Monday of June and closes it by the last Friday of November, with earlier closure possible for avalanche risk. In summer the road branches off the south ramp of the Bernina Pass and avoids the toll on the Munt-la-Schera tunnel. The Italian customs post stands at the summit, the Swiss one lower down near the junction with the cantonal road to the Bernina Pass.
The pass crosses the watershed between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Danube-Po divide. It is the only pass between Switzerland and Italy where a traveller coming from the Swiss south side descends to the Italian north side. The Predil Pass is the only other Alpine crossing with the same reversed arrangement.
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