Description
Discover the Caurres battery, the upper part of the Tournoux fort, built in the second half of the 19th century. Made up of several forts spread over 700 metres of uneven ground, the fortress is listed as a Historic Monument.
The fort was built in the mid-to-late 19th century to secure the entrance to the Col de Larche. Construction began in 1843 with the middle and upper forts and Battery XII, completed in 1865, to which the Caurres Battery was added in 1880. Situated on a rocky spur at the confluence of the Ubaye and Ubayette valleys (the access route to Italy), the fort's buildings inevitably attract attention due to their size and almost Tibetan layout.
Today, only the Caurres battery is open to the public. Surrounded by a wide moat equipped with caponiers, the battery houses 2 barracks and firing lines. Its cannons could beat the enemy from the Col de Larche, the Col de Vars and the Vallon de Restefond.
