Gotthard Pass or St. Gotthard Pass is a mountain pass in the Alps connecting northern and southern Switzerland, and the pass spots the Italian-speaking town of Airolo and the German-speaking town of Andermatt. Three major traffic tunnels pass through it, each of which was the longest in the world at the time of its construction: the Gotthard Railway Tunnel (1882), the Gotthard Road Tunnel (1980), and the Gotthard Base Tunnel (2016). The pass played an important role in Swiss history, with the area north of Gotthard becoming the nucleus of the Swiss Confederation in the early 14th century.