More than a fort, it can be considered a barrier. Made up of numerous forts (San Carlo, Tre Denti, Sant’Elmo and Valli), powder magazines, a medieval neighborhood that served as a fortress, a neighborhood for the troops, all connected by redoubts and powerful gunboats united by that admirable work that makes the Forte di Fenestrelle is even more unique and evocative: the covered staircase (about 4000 steps), dug into an artificial tunnel of almost two kilometres.
Inside Fort San Carlo there are also three military quarters, the powder magazine of Sant’Ignazio, the ramparts, the royal door and numerous other buildings used as warehouses, laboratories, infirmary and guardhouses.
The Fort of Fenestrelle is made up of three fortified complexes: the San Carlo, the Tre Denti and the Delle Valli, joined by a tunnel inside which runs the longest covered staircase in Europe, with 4,000 steps.
The visit to the Fenestrelle Fortress can only be done with guided tours.
The volunteers of the Progetto San Carlo – Forte di Fenestrelle Onlus association manage visits to the Fortress, offering different types of tours. The visits have an agreement with the Museum Subscription of the Piedmont Region and with the Torino+Piemonte Card
The royal walk
Departure in the morning at 9 am and return in the late afternoon for the complete visit to the fortress. With a more hiking slant, visit Fort San Carlo in less depth, but cover the entire wonderful and panoramic Royal Staircase with its 3,000 steps located on the roof of the famous Covered Staircase.
Visit the Santa Barbara, Porte and Ospedale redoubts and the most characteristic corners of the Covered Staircase with 4,000 steps. You climb up to an altitude of 1,800 metres. where the fortress ends, to visit the Forte delle Valli in detail.
In the afternoon, we return to Piazza D’Armi, along the Strada dei Cannoni located within the beautiful pine forest that runs along the Fenestrelle Fort.
A fascinating journey inside the walls
Departure at 10 am and 3 pm for this three-hour journey inside the Fenestrelle Fort. It highlights and delves into the history and culture of the fortress and the valley.
Visit Fort San Carlo in detail with all its palaces and cellars, walk along a long and beautiful stretch of the 4,000-step Covered Staircase to visit the casemates, redoubts and ramparts of the fortress.
You follow a stretch of the Strada Reale and climb up to an altitude of 1,400 metres. to admire the Devil’s Garitta, a splendid panoramic point of the valley located at Forte Tre Denti.
Discover San Carlo
For tourists passing through with little time available and those who consider the two previous itineraries too demanding. In it we focus only on Forte San Carlo admiring the Piazza d’Armi with the buildings, the Church and the western pincers that frame it.
The Fort of Fenestrelle is the largest fortified structure in Europe and the largest masonry construction after the Wall of China. A stone giant that extends for about five kilometers in the Chisone valley and covers a difference in altitude of almost 700 metres.
Unique among the Piedmontese forts of the 18th century. still presenting the original architecture, it was designed by the engineer Ignazio Bertola, with the function of protecting the Italian-French border, but it was never involved in military events.
It is located within the Orsiera-Rocciavré Regional Natural Park and since 1999 it has been the symbolic monument of the Province of Turin.
All the most representative buildings of the entire defensive complex overlook the parade ground of Fort San Carlo: the governor’s palace, the officers’ pavilion and the church; The long covered staircase that connects every part of the large fortress also starts from the parade ground.
The fortress in numbers:
– 3 km long;
– 1,300,000 m2;
– 3 Forts, 7 Redoubts, 28 Raises;
– Covered Staircase: 4000 steps;
– Royal Flush: 2500 steps;
– 122 years of construction;
– 14 connecting bridges;
– 5 internal drawbridges;
– 183 lights for lighting.
Forte di Fenestrelle
Via del Forte, 1
Fenestrelle (Turin)
Website info Forte di Fenestrelle