Forts tour in Menton, Riviera & Merveilles

1 - The Fort of Cap Martin
Located in the town of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, the Cap
Martin was part of the Alpine Maginot Line and consists of 3 blocks of
fight. This is the last work at the southern end of the line. Unique, 25m deep, it is a bunker block with a shaft entrance. Like all the works of the Maginot line, this one allowed an underground life in perfect autarky of 3 to 4 months. Its crew consisted of 343 soldiers and 11 officers. The fortified site was to protect French territory from an Italian invasion, crossing its fire with the work of Roquebrune. In June 1940, the work, exposed to direct fire from Italian artillery, had to fire at Menton in order to prevent Mussolini's troops from entering and was heavily bombed.

2 - The Fort of Sainte Agnès
Last rampart of the Maginot line, the fort of Sainte-Agnès in
was, with the Cap-Martin work on the coast, the ultimate
southern bastion: it made it possible to padlock the passage of the coast. The
construction of the structure on this rocky outcrop overlooking the bay
de Menton lasted 6 years, from 1932 to 1938. The Fort, made up of 6 blocks
is a real underground city dug under the village. The building
equivalent to a four-story building embedded in the hill.
There are 2000m2 of galleries and underground rooms with
state-of-the-art equipment for the time. The Fort could accommodate
350 troops who could live there in complete autarky
during 3 months. The Fort's mission was defensive: to prevent
the Italians to infiltrate by the coast, to enter Menton and
progress along the coast towards Nice.

3 - The Fort of Castillon
The fort is a work of the Maginot line located at the Col de Castillon at an altitude of 740m,
located under the ruins of the ancient medieval village. The mission of the structure, work on which began in 1932, was to block access to the Col de Castillon and ensure the continuity of infantry and artillery fire between Ste-Agnès and Fort du Barbonnet. The
strength was made up of 337 soldiers and non-commissioned officers, supervised by 7 officers. Fort de Castillon will only really serve from 22 to 25 June 1940 in the face of an Italian attack from the border between Pierre Pointue and the fall of Scuvion.

4 - The Fort Saint Roch in Sospel
Fort Saint-Roch is part of the Maginot line. Built in
1930s, it required 5,000m3 of concrete and 385 tonnes of steel. The
mission entrusted to the work was not only to participate in the
continuity of fire with neighboring structures to form a line of
resistance, but also to block the Sospel-
Breil with its 75mm gun and two 81mm action mortars
frontal. This fortress, which housed up to 260 men, officers
included, still has a 149mm gun weighing 13 tons, and
several of its rooms bring to life the daily life of its troops.

5 - The Fort du Barbonnet in Sospel
Built at the top of Mont Barbonnet which rises to 847m, it
barred the Bévéra Valley and the Col de Braus, thus protecting Nice.
This summit was fortified several times: first in 1883-1886, with the construction of a fort Séré de Rivières, which was then modernized from 1891 to 1917 (addition of layers of concrete and some shielding), then again in 1931-1935, in the form of an artillery work as part of the Maginot Line. Its mission was to prevent an invasion of Nice by monitoring the Bévéra valley, the Col de Castillon and the Col de Braus. As soon as it was built, it accommodated 2 Mougin model 1876 turrets, each armed with two 155L guns, which in 1887 made it one of the 3 most armored structures in France.

6 - Fort de l'Agaisen in Sospel
As part of the Maginot Line, the Agaisen structure was established at the top of Mount Agaisen, which dominates the Bévéra valley and the small
town of Sospel, at an altitude of 750 meters. Its construction between 1930 and 1937 cost a total of 24.6 million francs. This is a strictly defensive structure. A turret still in operation is capable of firing 360 degrees. The entrances are on one level, while the access to the blocks is via wells with stairs and freight elevator. Its underground infrastructures (galleries, power station, elevators, combat blocks ...) numbered 400 soldiers who successfully participated in the fighting of June 1940 which prevented the passage of the Italian army into the Bévéra valley.

7 - CHAR M5A1 STUART
This is an original tank from the Mountain Infantry Battalion of
the 1st Free French Division. It was immobilized by an anti-tank mine on the Authion plateau, at the Cabanes Vieilles camp, on April 10, 1945. Pushed into a ravine on April 11 because it was blocking the road, this tank still bears its paint and its markings. 'origin.To get there, you have to go to Col de Turini (1,604m), go up by the RD68 to the drop of Camp d'Argent (1,737m), and continue
the ascent towards the Authion circuit. The tank is at the camp
of "Cabanes Vieilles", on the left of the circuit and near a
former barracks and a working cheese factory.

8 - Old cabins camp
The “Cabanes Vieilles” camp was built on the ridges
panoramic views of the Authion massif in the 1890s to
welcome the troops in maneuver. First in wood, then it will be
enlarged and partly restored in freestone. In the 1930s, a
cable car is built to bring food from the road
of Moulinet. During the summer, more than a thousand men stayed
in the massif. In 1945, it was one of the last French territories to be liberated.

9 - Fort de la Redoute Pointe des 3 communes
The Redoute des Trois-Communes is a structure built at 2,082m on a
summit located at the limit of the municipalities of Breil-sur-Roya, Saorge and La
Bollène-Vésubie. Built between 1897 and 1899 on the site of a
old Sardinian battery, the Redoubt of the Three Communes is the first
fort des Alpes-Maritimes built in reinforced concrete. Only the facade
throat is in freestone. Pentagonal in shape, it is surrounded
of a ditch. Raised on the highest point of the Authion massif at 2080m
altitude, it monitors the ridge of the Ortiguié which leads to the Col de Raus
and the old border, and the Vallée des Merveilles north of the Pas du
Devil. Its role was to protect the forts of La Forca and the Thousand Forks.
Occupied by the Germans in 1943, the facade of the structure suffered from
the French attack of April 12, 1945. The troops consisted of a
officer, two non-commissioned officers and 48 enlisted men.

10 - The Forts of the Col de Tende - Fort Central
The project to build the forts on the Col de Tende was part of the
general defense plan for Italy decided in 1871. The objective was then to
create a line of protection to prevent access to Cuneo
to possible invaders from the Roya Valley. The strong
central, built between 1881 and 1885 and which dominates the Col de Tende at a
altitude of 1926m, is located on the southern border of the municipalities of
Tende and La Brigue, remained Italian after the re-establishment of Nice and
from Savoy to France in 1860. From this fort start several routes
easy walks, to do with the family. It can be joined either from
Tende by the Spegi track, and the drops of the Urn and Peirefique
(4x4 recommended), or from the Italian side via the resort road
"The Three Friends".

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