Janus Fort
Une vue à couper le souffle ! 👀 ⛰️
The Janus Fortwill delight lovers of history and high-altitude landscapes.
At 2565 meters above sea level, facing the fortChaberton and Italy, it is part of the belt, of fortifications, which protected the access to France and the city of Briançon.
It was built between 1886 and 1903, on the summit of the same name at 2529 m. A 900 meter long underground structure which extends the Maginot line was added between 1931 and 1937.
He has the20th Century Heritage Labelthcentury in the PACA region.
The Fort du Janus is built to the North East of the Place de Briançon, above the Gondran position. This fully proof modern fort is the highest on the square and the most advanced on the Italian border and is made up of two parts, an infantry blockhouse built in 1887 and an underground part built from 1898. A frontal action casemate was built to flank the Gondran defense line. It is armed with 4 95 mm cannons on a coast mount. It is the only casemate of this type built in France.
The borders and coasts of France were fortified in successive steps, depending on threats, real or supposed, alliances or territorial annexations. On the border with Italy, at an altitude of 2540 m, the Château Jouan ridge hides the second highest Maginot structure in the Alps, after the entire Col de Restefond.
The Janus is one of the rare structures in the sector to undergo a fire test in June 1940. It was targeted by the 149 m/m of the nearby Italian fort of Chaberton, which towers over it by almost 600 m. A GFM bell still bears the mark of the ricochet of an Italian shell.
It is also to these observation bells that it owes its greatest claim to glory: one of them housed an officer who participated in artillery observations and in adjusting the fire of the 280 of the 6thBattery of 154eRAP who, under the command of Lieutenant Miguet, reduced Chaberton to silence.
The Janus is today owned by the municipality of Montgenèvre which recently acquired it. A study was carried out to secure the work in order to open it to visitors.
Protected from looting and vandalism by the nearby presence of the Gondrans military post, still in activity, the Janus work, still equipped with its extraordinary drawbridge, enormous, and yet operated by a single man, its central gallery 345 m long, its main artillery, its complete electricity production "factory", and a significant part of its living equipment, is in good condition and its visit will be of great interest to understand this what was life like for the crew of a high altitude fort more than 60 years ago.
