Exilles Fort

The Exilles Fort (Italian: Forte di Exilles) is a fortified complex in the Susa Valley, Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northern Italy. Together with the nearby Fort of Fenestrelle and the Forte Albertino (at Vinadio, in the province of Cuneo) it was part of the defensive line between the House of Savoy lands (later of the Kingdom of Italy) and France: both these states held it in different phases depending on the outcome of the various wars. It is located on a spur commanding one of the narrowest sections of the Susa Valley, along the main road connecting Turin to France.

The first mention of a fortified structure in the place dates from the 7th century, when a chronicler of the Abbey of Novalesa wrote of a fortification on the spur overlooking Exilles, perhaps destroyed by the Franks. Starting from 1155, the fort was held by the Bermond family of Besançon, counts of Albon, who owned the road passing near it and leading to the Monginevro Pass.

The first description of the castle dates from 1339: it had a quadrangular plan with more towers, quite different from the massive structure visible today. Between 1494-1496 it was used as an ammunition depot by Charles VIII of France, who enlarged the main entrance and enrolled peasants of the area to defend it. In the 16th century it was further reinforced with more towers under Charles II of Savoy. In 1541 it was again under French rule, though, according to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), it was reacquired by Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy. In 1591 it was recaptured by the French after a short siege, but two years later Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy took it back and strengthened it, in particular on the side facing the upper Susa Valley.

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