St Gotthard

St Gotthard, mountain group, south central Switzerland, in the Lepontine Alps, in the cantons of Valais, Uri, Ticino, and Graubünden. St Gotthard is the source of four important rivers, the Reuss, the Ticino, the Rhône, and the Rhine. The highest point, Pizzo Rotondo, rises to 3,192 m (10,472 ft). The St Gotthard Road goes through the mountain group and crosses St Gotthard Pass, the central pass of the entire Alps, leading from northern Europe to Italy. It was the most used of the Alpine passes from the 14th century to 1882, when the St Gotthard Tunnel was completed beneath the pass. A railway runs through the tunnel, which is 15 km (9.3 mi) long. A highway tunnel (16.9 km/10.5 mi), which was the longest in the world at the time of its opening in 1980, runs through the St Gotthard mountains in Switzerland.