The Julier Pass was in regular use during the
Bronze and Iron Ages. It saw heavy traffic in the
Roman era, evidenced by the countless coins and remains of Roman roads discovered in the region; it has the most artifacts of the Roman roads of any location in the canton. Historically, the Julier Pass competed with the shorter but steeper
Septimer Pass. During the Roman era, the Julier and Septimer Passes were
roads suitable for two-wheeled
carts, the largest vehicles able to negotiate the steep slopes, The Julier Pass lost importance in 1387, when a small road over the Septimer Pass was built. In 1473, the path through the
Viamala was expanded, and the was no longer preferred for transalpine travel. This shift led the
Bishop of Chur, who controlled the , to acquire
Thusis and
Heinzenberg from the
Counts of Werdenberg, giving him control of the and a monopoly over the passes of the
Three Leagues. The first two
paved roads () over the alpine passes built in Graubünden were along the San Bernardino and Splügen Passes of the . In 1816, a six-meter-wide road along the 100-kilometer-long San Bernardino route was plotted by
Ticino State Councillor within a few days. Although supported by Ticino and the
Kingdom of Sardinia, the project was difficult to finance and was opposed by cantons along the Gotthard route and
Austria, which controlled
Lombardy. Eventually, with funding from the merchants of Chur, the , and the municipalities along the route, construction of the San Bernardino commercial road began on 14 September 1818 and was completed by the summer of 1823. In the meantime, Lombardy constructed a four-meter-wide road over the Splügen Pass, which was completed by the summer of 1822. Between 1820 and 1828, the canton of Graubünden expanded the road from Chur to
Castasegna via the Julier and Maloja Passes into a five-meter-wide commercial road, at a cost of 1.24 million Francs. The construction of this new road proved prescient when massive flooding of the
Hinterrhein in 1834 obstructed the to San Bernardino at 72 locations and destroyed 24 bridges. The new road allowed the displaced transalpine traffic to be rerouted over the unaffected Julier Pass without issue. From 1835 onward, the chief engineer of the canton of Graubünden,
Richard La Nicca, worked to improve the , including the Julier Pass. La Nicca was self-taught and mentored by Pocobelli, who together came to define this period of construction. The many bridges La Nicca designed have been praised for their unique and aesthetic design; many have lasted to the present day. In the second half of the 19th century, the Julier Pass was most notable for providing access to the spa towns of the upper Engadin, while transalpine traffic preferred the Splügen route or
new alpine railways. Proposed plans for a Julier railway were never realized and the 1903 opening of the
Albula railway line through the
Albula Tunnel all but ended road traffic over the Julier Pass. Today, the Julier Pass is the most important northern entrance to the Engadin valley. Around 3,000 vehicles cross the Julier Pass every day. == See also ==