Italy - XX century
---------------------------------------------------
Between 1898 and 1910 Italian troops built an artillery battery on the summit that pointed towards France, in particular at the town of Briançon, and the pass to Italy over the Col de Montgenèvre. A road was built to the summit from the village of Fénils in the Susa Valley. The fort was dubbed the "Fort of the Clouds" and mounted eight 149mm guns in individual masonry turrets, which were often hidden in the clouds.
When Italy entered the Second World War, they bombarded the French positions around Briançon, but they did not advance. On June 21, 1940 the French 154th Artillery Regiment destroyed 6 of the 8 turrets using 280mm marine mortars which had served in The First World War at Verdun. These were placed out of sight at Poët Morand below Fort de l'Infernet and were guided by observers on the nearby Mont Janus. Shell craters are still visible from the air on the slopes to the west of the mountain
Fort de l'Infernet is a tourist attraction, one of the Forts in Les Alberts, Francuska. It is located: 11 km from Briançon, 244 km from Torino, 620 km from Milan. Read further
All photos viewed on this website are copyrighted by their owners. Clicking on the author name above will take you to the original page for given photo where you can check the copyright information from the author.
Some photos are provided via Flickr, 500px, Instagram and other open APIs in full compliance with the appropriate Terms & Conditions.