Mont Donon, Archaeological mountain site in Grandfontaine, France
Mont Donon is a mountain in the northern Vosges at about 1008 meters elevation, topped with a television transmission tower visible from afar. The summit offers views across the surrounding landscape and connects multiple hiking routes that approach from different directions.
The summit plateau holds remains of a Celtic and Roman sanctuary dedicated to the god Vosegus, after whom the Vosges may be named; the original finds are kept in the museums of Épinal and Strasbourg. The present neoclassical temple was built under Napoleon III as a free reconstruction. In 1940 the French 43rd Fortification Corps was encircled here and surrendered only after the second armistice of Compiègne; soldiers' graves remain on the summit.
The summit holds the neo-classical Vosegus temple, built under Napoleon III as a free reconstruction; the original Celtic and Roman votive finds are kept in the museums of Épinal and Strasbourg. Around the summit plateau lie numerous soldiers' graves from the fighting of 1914–1918 and 1940, when the French 43rd Fortification Corps was encircled here and capitulated after the second armistice of Compiègne.
Several hiking routes lead to the summit with distances between 5 and 9 kilometers and elevation gains ranging from 230 to 360 meters. The mountain remains accessible year-round, though winter conditions can make the climb more demanding.
The summit's 80-metre steel lattice transmission tower has its top antennas enclosed in a fibreglass cylinder to protect them from icing, giving the mast its banded, tapering outline. The tower broadcasts FM radio and television programmes for the region.
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