Fortifications Trail

Walking along the Fortifications Trail means taking a step back in time — pausing to admire up close the remains of barracks, casemates, bunkers, and via ferratas built by soldiers in these mountains. It is a long and demanding route, best tackled in stages.

The most attentive observer cannot help but wonder at the immense difficulty of constructing these structures, given the limited means and techniques available at the time, the often hostile environment — especially during the winter months — and the remoteness of communication routes. The roads that once connected the defensive works, painstakingly built by hand along scree slopes and rocky ridges, have in part collapsed. Yet, the stretches of dry-stone walls and rough paving that still survive stand as a testament to the great skill of those who contributed to what is now known as the Vallo Alpino — the most ambitious fortified system ever built to defend Italy’s borders.

Still, the most striking feature remains the majesty of the natural environment one passes through. The place that best embodies these characteristics is the Gardetta Plateau, a borderland between Italy and France, as well as between the Maira, Grana, and Stura valleys.

Even today, a walk through this area feels like a journey back in time — from the remains of 18th-century trune (stone huts) to the various military encampments of Bandia and Lake Meja, and finally to the bunkers and casemates peeking out from pastures and rocky slopes, with their rounded white roofs built in anticipation of the Second World War.

Text and information courtesy of VisitPiemonte.