The road was built from 1319 onwards by the citizens of Cividale in the Patriarchate of Aquileia with the consent of the Prince-Bishops of Bamberg, then the possessors of the Carinthian lands in the north.

However, the importance of the trade route diminished after the Aquileia territory in the south was incorporated into the Domini di Terraferma by the Republic of Venice in 1420.

During the War of the Fifth Coalition, an Austrian contingent under Captain Johann Hermann von Hermannsdorf on 18 May 1809 fought against the French forces moving from the Kingdom of Italy upon the Battle of Tarvis.

In 1903 a 4.5 km (2.8 mi) long tunnel (Štoln) was built beneath the pass, serving miners from Log pod Mangartom on their way to the lead mines in Cave del Predil.

In World War I the mine railway was used to supply the Austro-Hungarian Army in the Battles of the Isonzo against the Kingdom of Italy.