Alta Via del Sale, a high-mountain military road not suitable for people with vertigo

There are mountain roads with complex layouts that pass through truly beautiful landscapes. One of them is in Italy.

A night at the Gemona Battalion Refuge, a century-old military chapel at 1,890 meters
A World War II torpedo depot on Mount Erice, on the island of Sicily

Between 1881 and 1885, the Royal Italian Army built an unpaved military road in the Alps to connect several forts in the area. The road linked Colla di Sanson—a mountain pass 1,694 meters above sea level, located near the French border—with Colle di Tenda, situated at 1,870 meters, also along the border. In 1881, the Forte Centrale was constructed; it was a trapezoidal military fortification equipped with 12 cannons, located at an altitude of 1,920 meters at Colle di Tenda. The purpose of this network of fortifications was to prevent a French invasion during a period of intense hostility between the two nations—a tension sparked in 1881 by the French invasion of Tunisia, an African country that the Kingdom of Italy considered to be within its own sphere of influence.

This animosity led Italy to enter into the Triple Alliance with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1882, despite Italy’s traditional enmity toward the Austrians (the empire held control over Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia—Italian-speaking territories that the Kingdom of Italy claimed as its own). Italy abandoned the Triple Alliance in 1915—before having entered the First World War—and joined the Triple Entente (France, Russia, and the United Kingdom), declaring war on its former allies. Consequently, the Alpine fortifications along the French border were abandoned, as Italy focused all its efforts on the Alpine front against the Austro-Hungarian Empire—a conflict that proved to be a veritable slaughterhouse for both sides, resulting in the deaths of more than 2 million Italians and over 1.4 million Austro-Hungarians.

Between 1938 and 1939, Mussolini’s dictatorship expanded this military road to make it passable for heavy vehicles, as part of the so-called Western Alpine Wall—a defensive line established in anticipation of a potential war with France. Today, this road has become a popular route for off-road vehicle enthusiasts. Known as the Alta Via del Sale (High Salt Road), it is now a toll route. You can find more information on its official website. If you would like to see this road without leaving home, Imagine World Tour recently published a video traveling along this route:

You can see some screenshots from this long video here. The creator of the video began the route at Bassa di Sanson, the current location of the Italian-French border, at an altitude of 1,694 meters above sea level. The road is very narrow and, as you can see, quite busy. You often have to wait to let other vehicles pass—everything from off-road vehicles to motorcycles and bicycles.

The Alta Via del Sale is unpaved. It was originally a medieval-era path. Some sections are genuinely dangerous. The route is strewn with rocks brought down by landslides, so it is advisable to carry spare wheels.

Arguably one of the most isolated traffic lights in the world. It is powered by solar energy.

The entrance to the former Forte Centrale at Colle di Tenda. Although it is now in ruins, one can still clearly see how large this fortification of the Royal Italian Army once was.

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Images: Imagine World Tour.