Fort de Variselle

It is the largest of the works on Mont-Cenis, it is also its commanding fort. Its pentagonal plan, inspired by Montalembert architecture, adapts to the relief with two floors of semi-casemated fire (artillery and gunfire). The artillery of the Variselle fort included 27 cannons, with a range of 6,000 m. These pieces were installed in vaulted casemates, open at the rear. The central area of the fort was occupied by a vast buried and casemated barracks, which was deflected below the level of the courtyard; it housed the cantonments, the powder magazines, the projectile depot, the food shop, the infirmary, the bread oven and the various infrastructures necessary for the needs of the Italian infantry called upon to carry out operations in the sector.