Eight things you should know about the Gotthard Tunnel

After 17 years of construction, the 57km (35.5 mile) Gotthard Base Tunnel has its official opening on Wednesday. But the world’s longest rail tunnel is much more than just a hole in a mountain. swissinfo.ch takes a multimedia look at eight aspects of this Swiss national symbol.

1. The Gotthard Pass is legendary.

The Devil's Bridge over the Schöllenen Gorge, as drawn by Kaspar Ulrich Huber around 1860

As the scene of a swearing of allegiance between the first cantons in 1291 and of resistance against wartime occupation, the Gotthard has a unique aura. Even the Matterhorn doesn’t have the symbolic value of this massif: the cradle of the confederation, the centre of the Alps, the source of Europe’s great rivers, the crossroads of Swiss culture and a symbol of independence, cohesion and national identity.

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