Łupków Pass
Łupków Pass or Lupkov Pass (Polish: Przełęcz Łupkowska, Slovak: Lupkovský priesmyk) is a significant mountain pass in the Carpathian Mountains on the border between Poland and Slovakia, and close to the western border of Ukraine. Its highest point rises 640 m above sea level. It is located just south of the village Łupków in Poland and east of Medzilaborce in Slovakia. Underneath the pass runs a railway tunnel 642 m long, straddling the border between Poland and Slovakia.
| Łupków Pass | |
|---|---|
  Łupków Pass Location of Łupków Pass | |
| Elevation | 640 m (2,100 ft) |
| Traversed by | Road (and rail in tunnel) |
| Location | Poland |
| Range | Carpathian Mountains |
| Coordinates | 49°15′N 22°2′E |
The Łupków Pass separates the Low Beskids from the Bieszczady Mountains.
The tunnel and the associated railway line were finished in 1874, to link Galicia with the rest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire across the Carpathian mountains. Given that it was such a vital communications link, the pass had considerable strategic importance.
Łupków Pass was one of the strategically important Carpathian passes bitterly contested in battles on the Eastern Front of World War I during the winter of 1914/1915. An attempt to stand on the line of the Wisłok river and the Łupków Pass failed before renewed Austro-German attacks on 8 May 1915.[1] The railway tunnel was demolished and rebuilt multiple times during both World Wars. It was rebuilt again in 1946 but saw little use afterwards. Only in 1999 was regular passenger rail service reestablished through the pass.
References
- "The Pursuit and Battles at Sanok and Rzeszów (6 May).—After his severe defeat, Radko Dimitriev's plan was to hold the Łupków Pass with his left wing, and, supported upon this, to bring the pursuit to a stand on the line Nowotaniec–Besko-right bank of the Wisłok, where there were positions favoured by the lay of the ground, and then, between the Vistula and the Wisłok, on the line Wielopole-Rzeszów–Mielec. Here he proposed to reconstitute his units, which had fallen into great disorder, and to strengthen them by bringing up reserves. Troops were sent to him from other fronts, and by the 8th he could again dispose of 18 inf. divs., 5 cav. divs. and 5 Reichswehr bdes. The orders were that the offensive was to be continued with all possible vigour. Mackensen's army was to push forward over the stretch of the Wisłok between Besko and Frysztak on Mrzygłód and Tyczyn, and the Archduke Joseph Ferdinand on Rzeszów, while Boroevic was to roll up Brussilov's VIII. Russian Army in the direction of Sanok. Bohm's II. Austrian Army was to join up corps by corps from the left wing in proportion to the progress of the attack." Joly, Ernst (1922). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 30 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 864.