The Fenestrelle fortress

Fenestrelle - Fenestrelle is a small Piedmontese town in the province of Turin; it rises 1154 meters above sea level and has just 600 inhabitants. Its name, however, is very famous thanks to the eighteenth-century fortress of the same name, built by the French and then completed by the Savoy enemies. The Fenestrelle fort is the largest European fortification with its 3.5 kilometers in length and 1,350,000 square meters of surface.

Absolute symbol of the province of Turin, it is a small Chinese wall in Piedmontese territory. It is an imposing structure that stands on the southwestern ridge of Mount Pinaia up to almost 1,800 meters above sea level. The fort is made up of three forts: San Carlo; three teeth; of the valleys. There are also a series of small batteries all joined by a cyclopean covered staircase over 2 kilometers long and with 4,000 steps. Despite being a spectacular masterpiece of military engineering, in all its existence it has never fired a single shot despite the presence of 150 guns and 3,000 garrison men. Fenestrelle is located in the middle of the Chisone valley, an important communication route between Italy and France and thanks to its conformation it dominates the entire valley. As proof of this, a military garrison and a thriving commercial center already existed in Fenestrelle. It was abandoned in 1947, only after 1990 did it come back to life.