Description of the attraction
Fort Exilles, a huge fortress in the Val di Susa valley, making an indelible impression, was opened to the public in 2000 thanks to the collaboration of the government of the Piedmont region and the National Museum "Montaña Cai Torino". An excellent example of Franco-Savoy military architecture, the fortress itself has now been turned into a museum. Two excursion routes allow visitors to get acquainted with the history of this building: one, laid inside the fort, introduces the different levels of the fortress and its functions, and the second offers to admire the surrounding landscapes. Stone soldiers, sculptures, paintings and photographs accompany visitors on their journey back in time and tell the fort's centuries-old history.
For the first time, a fortified structure on a rock on the right bank of the Dora River is mentioned in documents dating back to 1155, when the Counts of Albon controlled the road leading to Monginevro. This place was already of strategic military importance, and Exilles was the easternmost outskirts of the count's possessions. In 1339, a real defensive complex towered on the rock - it was a rare example of the so-called "roadside castle". In the second half of the 16th century, the castle became a bone of contention between Catholics and reformers, who wanted to control the province of Dauphiné, which in those years was located on both sides of the Alps. After the conclusion of the Peace Treaty of Lyon in 1601, Fort Exilles was for a long time out of sight of international politics. Only in 1708, the Savoyard army under the leadership of Victor Amedeus II was able to capture the entire Val di Bardonecchia valley and the ancient fortress. And the Piedmontese conquests of the Dora and Cizone alpine valleys, followed by their transfer to the rule of the Savoy dynasty in 1713, determined the new strategic positions of the entire Savoyard state. Fort Exilles was significantly modernized and rebuilt, and its defenses were turned towards France. In the second half of the 18th century, a number of reconstructions were carried out here. Despite this, in 1796, French troops razed the fortress to the ground, and only in 1818-1829 the fort was rebuilt in the form in which we see it today - in accordance with the norms of military architecture of that time.
After World War II, Fort Exilles was abandoned. Everything that could be taken away or taken away was plundered, from wooden window frames to electrical cables. Only in 1978, the fortress was acquired by the Piedmont government, which immediately developed a plan for its restoration, and in 2000 a museum was opened in Fort Exilles.
