Forte di Fenestrelle

The Forte di Fenestrelle, often called the Great Wall of Piedmont, is the largest fortification in Europe by surface area and one of the most extraordinary military complexes in Italy. Built by the House of Savoy from 1728 over more than a century, it climbs the steep eastern flank of the Val Chisone, west of Turin, rising from around 1,150 metres to over 1,800 metres and stretching roughly three kilometres along the mountainside. The fort is not a single building but a chain of three linked fortifications, San Carlo, Tre Denti and Delle Valli, connected by a remarkable covered internal staircase, the Scala Coperta, of nearly four thousand steps, the longest such staircase in Europe. Designed to guard the strategic route between France and the Piedmontese plain, the fortress later served as a prison, and walking its ramparts, barracks, chapel and tunnels gives a vivid sense of the scale of Savoy military ambition along with sweeping Alpine views. Because of its size, the fort is explored on guided walking tours of varying length: short visits of an hour or two cover the lower San Carlo fort, while the demanding full traverse to the top can take seven hours and serious uphill effort. Tours run daily in season with reduced hours in winter, and booking ahead is advisable. The site is busiest on summer weekends; late spring to autumn offers the best weather for the longer walks. Sturdy footwear, water and layers are essential, as the upper reaches are cool and exposed. Best reached by car up the Val Chisone, about an hour and a half from Turin, Fenestrelle is a striking and unusual highlight of the Piedmont mountains.