Gateway to the Simplon — Baroque palaces and Alpine passes
Brig is a compact Valais town at the foot of the Simplon Pass — the historic crossing between Switzerland and Italy that Napoleon turned into a military road. The town's skyline is dominated by the Stockalper Palace, the largest private Baroque building in Switzerland, built by merchant Kaspar Jodok von Stockalper who monopolised the Simplon trade route in the 17th century. Today Brig is the southern terminus of the Lötschberg railway and a quiet base for exploring the high Alps.
Brig grew around the Simplon Pass trade route, one of the most important Alpine crossings since Roman times. Its golden age came in the 17th century under Kaspar Jodok von Stockalper, who built a trading empire controlling mule transport over the Simplon and constructed his grand palace between 1658 and 1678 — its three towers topped with gilded onion domes remain Brig's defining landmark. Napoleon later had the pass improved into a proper road (1800–1806), which opened the route to wheeled traffic and made Brig a key node in European commerce.