EUGENE VIOLLET-LE-DUC (1814-1879)
Theodul Pass (3,295 m- 10,810 ft)
Switzerland - Italy border
The mountain
Theodul Pass (3,295 m- 10,810 ft), is a high mountain pass across the eastern Pennine Alps, connecting Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais and Breuil-Cervinia in the Italian region of Aosta Valley. Theodul Pass is the second lowest pass (after Furggjoch) and the easiest pass between the valleys of Zermatt and Valtournanche.
The pass lies between the Matterhorn on the west and the Breithorn on the east and is overlooked by the Theodulhorn and Testa Grigia. The Rifugio del Teodulo (hut) is located just above the pass. The east side of the pass is covered by large glaciers part of the Theodul Glacier system and is part of a year-round ski area. On the Italian side, the pass can be reached from Breuil-Cervinia by a dead-end trail. On the Swiss side, trails go up from Trockener Steg and Gandegg Hut.
Theodul Pass (3,295 m- 10,810 ft), is a high mountain pass across the eastern Pennine Alps, connecting Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais and Breuil-Cervinia in the Italian region of Aosta Valley. Theodul Pass is the second lowest pass (after Furggjoch) and the easiest pass between the valleys of Zermatt and Valtournanche.
The pass lies between the Matterhorn on the west and the Breithorn on the east and is overlooked by the Theodulhorn and Testa Grigia. The Rifugio del Teodulo (hut) is located just above the pass. The east side of the pass is covered by large glaciers part of the Theodul Glacier system and is part of a year-round ski area. On the Italian side, the pass can be reached from Breuil-Cervinia by a dead-end trail. On the Swiss side, trails go up from Trockener Steg and Gandegg Hut.
The artist
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (not to be confused with the writer Violette Leduc) was a French architect and theorist, famous for his interpretive "restorations" of medieval buildings. But he was, as well, an excellent but less famous watercolorist, sketching quite a number of mountains and volcanoes all over Europe.
Strongly contrary to the prevailing Beaux-Arts architectural trend of his time, much of his design work was largely derided by his contemporaries. He was the architect hired to design the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty, but died before the project was completed.
During the early 1830s, a popular sentiment for the restoration of medieval buildings developed in France. Viollet-le-Duc, returning during 1835 from study in Italy, was commissioned by Prosper Mérimée to restore the Romanesque Abbey of Vézelay (France). This work was the first of a long series of restorations; Viollet-le-Duc's restorations at Notre Dame de Paris (France) with Jean-Baptiste Lassus brought him national attention. His other main works include Mont Saint-Michel, Carcassonne, Roquetaillade castle and Pierrefonds.
Viollet-le-Duc's "restorations" frequently combined historical fact with creative modification. For example, under his supervision, Notre Dame was not only cleaned and restored but also "updated", gaining its distinctive third tower (a type of flèche) in addition to other smaller changes.
Another of his most famous restorations, the medieval fortified town of Carcassonne,(South of france) was similarly enhanced, gaining atop each of its many wall towers a set of pointed roofs that are actually more typical of northern France. Many of these reconstructions were controversial. Viollet-le-duc wanted what he called ‘a condition of completeness' which never actually existed at any given time. This approach to restoration was particularly problematic when buildings survived in a mixture of styles. When monuments was to much damaged, he sometimes obtain from the emperor Napoleon III the permission to entirely rebuilt it, like he did in Avignon with the Popes ramparts all around the city.
