Simplon département (the Swiss canton Valais) was named after the pass. The Simplon Pass was also outfitted with rails for train service. The -long Simplon Tunnel was opened in 1906. The historic Orient Express used the Simplon route intermittently during the twentieth century, as it carried passengers between Istanbul and Paris. The Hospice du Simplon, at the top of the pass, is owned by the Congregation of Canons Regular at Grand-Saint-Bernard. Monuments During the Second World War, officers of the 11th Alpine Brigade of the Swiss Army, based in Zwischbergen, proposed the construction of the stone monument depicting an eagle, the symbol of the brigade. The Bernese architect Erwin Friedrich Baumann designed the monument based on the use of granite blocks from the old fortification of Gondo (a town near the pass) to build a statue about nine meters high. The monument was inaugurated in September 1944. In 2005, a memorial was built representing the 200th anniversary of the construction of the "Napoleon Road". See also Val Divedro List of highest paved roads in Europe List of mountain passes List of the highest Swiss passes Picture Gallery Bibliography Nicola Pfund, Sui passi in bicicletta - Swiss Alpine passes by bicycle, Fontana Edizioni, 2012, p. 122-127. References External links Profile on climbbybike.com Mountain passes of Valais Mountain passes of the Alps Lepontine Alps