Colle dell’Agnello, Colle dell’Izoard e Forte di Exilles. (10.09.22)

From Turin... destination Colle dell'Agnello, Colle dell'Izoard, and Fort Exilles, passing through Montgenèvre, Sestriere, and the Susa Valley. Col dell'Agnello, located at 2,744 meters above sea level (Col Agnel in French), is an Alpine pass in the Cottian Alps, as well as the second-highest road pass in Italy and the third-highest in Europe, preceded only by the Colle dell'Iseran and the Stelvio Pass. Located southwest of Monviso, it connects Italy to France from the Piedmontese municipality of Pontechianale to the French municipality of Molines-en-Queyras. It was inaugurated in 1973 by expanding a pre-existing dirt military road; it has been a transit point for several stages of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. The pass is only open during the summer months, depending on snowfall. The Col de l'Izoard, at 2,360 meters above sea level, (French: Col de l'Izoard), is an Alpine pass located in the French department of Hautes-Alpes, at the heart of the Queyras massif in the Cottian Alps. It connects Briançon to the northwest with Château-Ville-Vieille to the southeast. The pass has often been included on the Tour de France route and occasionally on the Giro d'Italia. Cycling champion Fausto Coppi is currently the only cyclist to have crossed the summit first in both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, both in 1949. The Izoard is also open only in the summer months depending on snowfall. The Fort of Exilles, located in the municipality of the same name in the province of Turin, was one of the most important defensive systems in Piedmont, along with the fortified complexes of Fenestrelle and Vinadio. It was used alternately by both the Savoy and the French. Its location at the center of a narrow passage in the upper Susa Valley made it a threat both to armies descending from the upper valley and those ascending from the valley floor. It is one of the oldest monuments in the Susa Valley. Its origins are still uncertain, but it already existed around 1155 when the Counts of Albon exercised strategic, military, and mercantile control over the Montgenèvre road, and Exilles represented the easternmost border of the principality. By 1339, it already had a complex structure: it is a rare example of a "road castle," with a defensive construction divided into multiple walled circuits to defend the inner core and an outer barrier, effectively controlling the important road axis that led from Piedmont to Provence through Montgenèvre. In the 16th century, the castle was long contested by opposing Catholic and Reformed factions vying for control of the Dauphiné region on this side of the Alps. At the beginning of the 17th century, the fort changed its appearance from an old castle to a bastioned fortress, where it hosted the mysterious and famous figure known as the "Iron Mask" between 1681 and 1687. In the early 18th century, the fortified fortress of Exilles, under the direction of Bertola and De Willencourt, underwent major renovations and modernization, including the reversal of the defensive front towards France. Further transformations were implemented in the mid-18th century: the fort was rebuilt, achieving a remarkable synthesis of defensive and logistical structures, with the formation of independent, self-sufficient, and progressively defensive units. The Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 transferred the royal dignity from the King of France to the House of Savoy, thus necessitating a reversal of the defensive front. Razed to the ground by the French following the Treaty of Paris of May 15, 1796, the Fort was rebuilt in its current form between 1818 and 1829 by the King of Sardinia, who regained possession of his territories. Vittorio Emanuele I entrusted its reconstruction to the architects Giovanni Antonio Rana and Francesco Olivero, who completed the structure between 1821 and 1829. The fort was disarmed in 1915 and definitively lost all military function on September 8, 1943, when it was definitively abandoned by the military. In 1978, the Piedmont Region acquired the property from the Military Property Office, with the commitment to ensure its restoration and functional recovery. The internal and external restoration project was then developed and launched, aimed at defining the overall layout of the Fort. In April 1996, an agreement was signed between the Piedmont Region and the CAI National Mountain Museum of Turin for the joint enhancement, management, and promotion of the Exilles Fort. In June 2015, a collaboration agreement was signed between the Piedmont Region and the Municipality of Exilles for the management of the Fort during the 2015 summer season. The Exilles Fort was opened to the public on July 8, 2000. Inside, two museum areas are open to visitors, featuring particularly innovative displays. Motorcycle tourism, paved trails, and off-road 10.09.2022