Segnavia 414 – ind. “Colle della Roussa” - between Lower Alpe Sellery and Upper Alpe Sellery
Can be reached by car; internal and external access and visits permitted.
The fort of S. Moritio was built in the summer of 1628, during the War of the Mantuan Succession, on the orders of the Duke of Savoia, Carlo Emanuele I, at the peak of Truc del Fort, a modest elevation in Val Sangone below the Roussa hill.
The hill constituted an important means of communication for the French territories of Val Chisone, which had already been used at the end of the 16th century during Carlo Emanuele I’s attempts to conquer the valley.
The worked, carried out by Tomaso Stasio, an engineer, was militarily dependent on the garrison of Avigliana and was completed by the end of the year. Comprising five salient sections, it was defended on the hill side by an external “priest’s hat” structure, from which a salient trench extended to the foot of the slope. The structure consisted primarily of grass-covered land areas, with interiors covered in stone. A few ruins in the centre testify to the existence of a large sheltering building for the garrison.
Although it was never directly engaged in battle, it housed a garrison in 1628 and 1630, and again between 1691 and 1692 during the Nine Years’ War.
Despite prolonged periods of erosion, its clarity is still remarkably well preserved.
