Fort of Exilles
The Fort of Exilles is a fortress in the upper Susa Valley, guarding the Montgenèvre road; owned by the Piedmont Region, it has been open to the public since 2000.[1][2]
Origins
Its origins are uncertain: around 1155 the fortress already belonged to the counts of Albon, and by 1339 it was a rare "road castle" with multiple defensive walls.[1] In the sixteenth century it was fought over by Catholics and Protestants for control of the Dauphiné, and between 1681 and 1687 it held the prisoner known as the "Man in the Iron Mask".[1]
The Savoys
With the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 the fort passed to the Savoys, who had it rebuilt by Bertola and De Willencourt and turned it against France.[1] On 15 May 1796, following the Treaty of Paris, the French razed it to the ground; it was rebuilt between 1818 and 1829 on the orders of Vittorio Emanuele I by the architects Giovanni Antonio Rana and Francesco Olivero.[1][3] Disarmed in 1915, it was abandoned by the military on 8 September 1943.[1]
The Museum
In 1978 the Region acquired it from the military authority with the obligation to restore it, and in 1996 entrusted its management under agreement to the National Mountain Museum; on 8 July 2000 the fort opened to the public with two museum areas.[1] According to Torino Oggi, ownership passed from the State Property Office to the Region in 2019.[2] Closed since summer 2021, it reopened in August 2022 with the "Borgate dal Vivo" festival; since 2023 management has been entrusted to the Municipality of Exilles, together with the Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo and local associations, and the chapel houses an exhibition dedicated to the musician Ezio Bosso.[4][2]
Sources
- FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano
- Torino Oggi — 29 June 2023
- L'Agenda News — 10 December 2022
- ValsusaOggi — 18 July 2022