In the middle of the Swiss Central Alps, which form the heart of the impressive mountain structure from which the arteries pulse to all corners of the world, lies the mountain knot of the Gotthard, belonging to the cantons of Uri and Ticino. As one of the deepest cuts in the mountain wall of the Central Alps, the Gotthard was certainly known to the oldest peoples inhabiting Helvetia. The Romans were not aware of the pass. According to burned documents that were once kept in the monastery of Dissentis, a hospice already existed at the foot of the crossing in the year 1300. In 1321, the Gotthard became a trade route. In 1374, a new hospice with a chapel was built at the mountain pass, which was destroyed by an avalanche in 1777. During the revolutionary wars of the last century, terrible battles took place in 1799 between the French under Lecourbe, Soult, and Suchet, the Austrians under Haddick, and the Russians under Su.