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Gondo

Canton of Valais · District: Brig · No published figure for the locality; the municipality of Zwischbergen has 75 inhabitants (31.12.2025, provisional FSO figure)
Part of the municipality of Zwischbergen
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Gondo

Gondo appears in 1291, when the bishop of Sion bought back the lordship rights there. The origin of the name remains obscure.[1]

Founding of Gondo

Gondo is the main village of the municipality of Zwischbergen, at the southern foot of the Simplon Pass and right on the Italian border. Together with Simplon Dorf, it is the only Valais village on the southern side of the Alps, and it serves as a customs post. The area first belonged to the lordship of Novara, until the bishop of Sion bought back the lordship rights in 1291. The population has long spoken German, but is partly of Italian origin. Families from Simplon and Gondo grew rich from carrying goods over the pass and from smuggling, and later played an important role in the political life of Valais.[1][2]

History of Gondo

1291. Bishop Boniface de Challant of Sion buys back from the count de Castello the lordship rights over Gondo, which until then belonged to the lordship of Novara.[1]

mid-15th century. The election of a castellan and an administrator gives rise to court records, corporations and municipal statutes.[1]

1495. A new church is built.[1]

1550-1897. Gold mines are worked.[1]

1640. A postal service between Lyon and Milan (between Geneva and Milan according to another source) stops at Gondo.[1][2]

1650. Construction of the Stockalper Tower (begun around 1670 and finished around 1685, or a sust built in 1666-1680, according to other sources).[1][2][4]

18th-19th centuries. Devastating avalanches strike the village several times.[1]

1822. The parish is attached to the diocese of Sion.[1]

1830s. Fortifications are built in the Gondo gorge. They are renewed in 1859.[2]

1875. Founding of the «Société anonyme des Mines d'Or de Gondo». A Paris company takes over the works in 1894, and bankruptcy follows in May 1897.[4]

1958. Gondo gets a school building. Lessons had long been held in the presbytery.[1]

1994. Opening of the Stockalperweg between Brig and Gondo.[2]

2000. On 14 October, after three days of torrential rain, a landslide destroys a third of the village, kills 13 people and sweeps away eight buildings (ten houses, the school and shops according to another source), including the western part of the Stockalper Tower.[1][3]

2007. The rebuilding of the village is completed. The Stockalper Tower, rebuilt for 7.5 million francs, reopens as a hotel and restaurant.[3]

Historic sites in Gondo

Stockalper Tower (Stockalperturm). Former sust of Gondo on the Simplon road, built in 1650 (around 1670-1685 according to another source). Its oldest part withstood the landslide of 2000, and the rest was rebuilt by 2007. It is listed as a cultural property of regional importance and now houses a hotel and restaurant.[1][3][4][5]

Church of Gondo. A new church is built in 1495. The parish has belonged to the diocese of Sion since 1822.[1]

Rock face and protective wall. After the disaster, a drainage system was built at the foot of the 400-metre rock face above the village, and the gaps in the protective wall were filled. Thirteen stars set in the wall behind the village commemorate the victims.[3]

Fort Gondo. Fortification enlarged in the early 20th century and during the First World War, then again during the Second. Since 2004 the Ecomuseum Simplon foundation has run it as a fortress museum.[4]

Remains in Gondo

Ruins of the gold-mining settlement. The gold mines of Gondo were worked from 1550 to 1897. The early modern ruins of the mining settlement are listed as a cultural property of national importance.[1][5]

Sources

  1. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, « Gondo » (Rachel Siggen-Bruttin, trad. Ernst Grell, version du 29.11.2005)
  2. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, « Simplonpass » (Renato Arnold, version du 19.12.2012)
  3. swissinfo.ch, Thomas Stephens, « Gondo marks tenth anniversary of disaster » (14.10.2010)
  4. Ecomuseum Simplon (Klaus Anderegg), dépliant « Stockalperweg Gondoschlucht »
  5. Office fédéral de la protection de la population (OFPP), Inventaire PBC, liste cantonale du Valais (objets A et B, état au 1.1.2026)
  6. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
  7. geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées)

Other villages near Gondo

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