All images by Alfred Eisenstaedt

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Thank you to LIFE Archive

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Taken from the Nouveau Theatre D’Italie by Pieter Mortier (1661-1711).

Thank you to Memory of the Netherlands

‘The Italian village of Balmalonesca near the Swiss border was built in 1898 to house workers employed in the excavation of the Simplon railway tunnel, completed in May 1905.

‘The village housed 8,000 people from every part of Italy in wooden alpine chalets and also offered a catholic church, a nursery, a school, a hospital, a barber and many bars and restaurants. It was run under strict rules by the German engineering company Brandt Brandau.

‘When the tunnel was complete, the population departed. In 1920 a huge flood swept most of Balmalonesca away’

- Paola Vozza

Balmalonesca's Main Street

Balmalonesca's Church

Balmalonesca pupils

Balmalonesca's school

Winter in Balmalonesca

The tunnel site

Workers travelling to the tunnel by train

Workers at the Simplon tunnel excavation site

Mule transport

Dynamite transport

Workers on a drill

Workers near the tunnel entrance, 1899

The Simplon tunnel

Workers at the end of their shift

The last drill of the tunnel, 24th February 1905

The last drill of the tunnel, 24th February 1905 II

The tunnel entrance near completion

Inauguration day, 2nd April 1905

The Simplon Express, 2nd class carriage

Unveiling the memorial to workers killed, 29th May 1905

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This capsule was curated by Marco Casali and Paola Vozza