Fort Tabourde, Fort in Tende, France
Fort Tabourde is a stone military fort on a hill above the Roya valley near Tende, in the southern French Alps. The building has a roughly rectangular layout with flat roofs, thick walls of local limestone and granite, and gun openings that once faced the valley below.
The fort was built between 1877 and 1883 by the Kingdom of Italy to defend the Col de Tende pass, which had become the border after Nice and Savoy joined France in 1860. After a 1947 treaty moved the border further north, Tende passed to France and the fort lost its military purpose entirely.
Fort Tabourde sits above Tende on old military roads that hikers now follow on foot. The GR 52A trail runs past the site, giving walkers a sense of how soldiers once moved through this mountain pass.
The fort is reachable on foot from Tende, a village connected by train from Nice or Ventimiglia. Some sections of the route are steep and follow unpaved tracks, so sturdy footwear and enough water are a good idea.
The fort was built entirely by Italy to keep France out, yet today it stands on French soil after the 1947 border shift. This means its walls were designed to defend against the very country that now owns it.
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