Fortino Sandino e le fortificazioni di La Thuile

For centuries La Thuile's position under a state border made it a garrison landscape. Around the village survive Savoy-era trenches, the small Fortino Sandino at Colle della Croce, a ruined battery on Mont du Parc and Second World War bunkers, forming an open-air record of the valley's border defences.

Why it matters

Defence shaped this valley more than almost anything else. The official portal opens its fortifications page with the observation that the history of La Thuile is inseparable from that of its border defences, guarding the passage of the Little St Bernard. The system spans eras: permanent fortification began in the age of the House of Savoy, pushed by the dynasty's vigilance against French incursions, and culminated in the concrete and steel of the Second World War. The Fortino Sandino stands near the Colle della Croce, amid views of the Graian Alps and the Mont Blanc massif.

What to notice

The landscape preserves a layered defensive system. At the Colle della Croce, two barracks once housed the garrison, and trenches cross the hill; Prince Tommaso di Savoia commissioned them in the seventeenth century, when permanent fortification took root in the valley. The Mont du Parc battery survives in ruins. At the Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo, arc-shaped trench lines follow the torrent Reclus near the Forte della Ridotta, whose remains include defensive structures and service rooms. Bunkers and anti-tank blocks across the heights record Second World War fighting along the border. The stones, earthworks and openings are the surviving material evidence.

Context and history

The chronology runs from legend to concrete. Tradition holds that even Hannibal crossed these mountains, but his passage left only literary traces; permanent works began under the Savoys, whose frontier ran straight through the pass. The 17th-century trenches of Prince Tommaso di Savoia formalised the defensive role of the Colle della Croce. Later works — the Mont du Parc battery, the Ridotta fort and the pass fortifications — tightened the system as military engineering evolved, and the Second World War added the bunker lines and anti-carro blocks that still punctuate the slopes. The surviving fortifications now form an open-air historical layer within the valley's broader heritage landscape.