MADDALENA PASS

also called Larche Pass, Italian Colle della Maddalena, or dell'Argentera, French Col de Larche, or de l'Argentire gap between the Cottian Alps (north) and the Maritime Alps (south). The pass lies at 6,548 feet (1,996 m) on the French-Italian border, 12 miles (19 km) east-northeast of Barcelonnette, Fr. A road (1870) across the pass connects Cuneo, Italy, with Barcelonnette. Hannibal reputedly led his Carthaginian army over the pass toward Rome in 218 BC, and the army of King Francis I of France used the pass to enter Italy and conquer Milan in 1515.