Fort of San Moritio

The territory of the protected areas of the Cottian Alps presents numerous works of a military nature which bear witness to the war events of the past. Before 1713, the year in which international treaties assigned Val Chisone to the Savoys, the territory of the Orsiera-Rocciavrè Park was a border land: the line that separated Piedmont from France descended from Moncenisio, crossed Val Susa, and went up the Dora watershed -Chisone and followed it up to Mount Rocciavrè, from where it continued on the Sangone-Chisone watershed, up to Pinerolo. All the main passes were fortified; they were mostly modest works, built with the material available on site: where the stones emerged, small walls were built, elsewhere trenches were dug and the resulting material piled up to form a parapet. Some traces of these fortifications remain today, consisting of dry stone walls and remains of trenches, especially at Colle dell'Orsiera and Colle delle Finestre.

In some cases, however, they were very impressive works such as the Fort of Fenestrelle, the largest military complex ever built in the Alps.

In Val Sangone the fort of San Moritio stands out, commonly called "Il Fortino", whose construction began in 1628. It represented the main defense point of Colle La Roussa, together with the simple defensive structures located on the Colle and Forte San Carlo of Coazze (of which the ruins remain just west of the votive pillar located at the top of the so-called Castle).

Today all that remains of the ancient fort are the ruins swallowed up by the turf, but from the top of the valley you can still imagine the star-shaped design of the trenches and dry stone walls that made up the ancient structure. On the top of the fort there is a boulder bearing cruciform rock engravings.

Infos

The Fortino can be reached from Coazze by taking the direction for the Pian Neiretto ski facilities. Before arriving at the facilities, along the asphalt road, at a hairpin bend to the right, there is the entrance to the agro-silvo-pastoral track of the Sellery mountain pastures, closed to common transit (Park noticeboard).

Park in the area and continue on foot along the track, beyond Alpe Sellery Inferiore. A sign placed along the road and an explanatory noticeboard will show you the crossroads to reach the Fortino in a few minutes.
The Fort is located on the top of a grassy elevation from which the entire valley is dominated.

Top view of the fort

Top view of the fort - Studio Tecnico Dovis

Bird's eye view - Apple Plans

Remains of the building - Matteo Arrotta

Top view of the fort Top view of the fort - Studio Tecnico Dovis Bird's eye view - Apple Plans Remains of the building - Matteo Arrotta