The Forte di Fenestrelle, a castle near Turin in Italy, is Europe’s largest fortified structure and in terms of walled construction is second only to the Great Wall of China.
The impressive Italian fort is open for visits, where you can choose between “La passeggiata reale” and the “Viaggio affascinante dentro le mura”.
The fort sits at 635 metres and is three kilometres long, covering 1.
3 million square metres.
The entire complex includes three forts with other features of a covered stairwell of 4,000 stairs, and a palatial stair with 2,500.
Five internal draw bridges are in the complex, along with 14 bridges.
The incredible Italian fort took 122 years to build.
The Forte di Fenestrelle, called Mutin at the time, was started in 1694 by Louis XIV, on the advice of Nicola Catinat.
It was captured by Vittorio Amedeo II in 1708 after a 15-day assault, and with the Utrecht treaty of 1713, the Chisone valley and its Mutin fort officially passed to the Piedmontese.
In 1727 the Sardinian King decided the fort was inadequate and trusted military engineer Ignazio Bertola to plan new fortifications.
The complex now includes three forts (San Carlo, Tre Denti, Valli), three redoubts (Carlo Alberto, Santa Barbara, Porte) and two batteries (Scoglio, Ospedale), connected by the famous 4000 stairs.
Entrance to and guided tours include a full day tour from 9am to 4pm for a complete visit (12 euros), or a shorter tour from 10am to 3pm to see in more detail the Forte San Carlo and the Garitta del Diavolo (Devil’s Garrett), at 7.
5 euros.