The Fort de Cindey (Swiss designation A155) is a component of

Fortress Saint-Maurice Fortress Saint-Maurice is one of the three main fortification complexes comprising the Swiss National Redoubt (Switzerland), National Redoubt. The westernmost of the three, Fortress Saint-Maurice complements Fortress Saint Gotthard and Fortress ...

, which is in turn one of the three principal fortified regions of the

National Redoubt A national redoubt or national fortress is an area to which the (remnant) military forces of a nation can be withdrawn if the main battle has been lost or even earlier if defeat is considered inevitable. Typically, a region is chosen with a geogra ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The Fort de Cindey was built in two steps: the first, between 1941 and 1946 and the second step, between 1948 and 1954 (the hospital, the artilleries casemates with the gunnery command and the ammunition magazines

It was taken out of service in 1995. This fort was built in the Scex cliff face immediately to the west of Saint-Maurice (Valais), Saint-Maurice to complement the existing Fort du Scex, built earlier in the same cliff. With the Fort du Scex, it comprises a fortress complex encased in rock high above the strategic Saint-Maurice valley. The fort was deactivated in 1995. It is now open for public tours during the summer months.

Site

The Fort de Cindey is located in the western cliffs of the Saint-Maurice valley where the defile narrows dramatically. The location was previously fortified in the 19th century. The Château Saint-Maurice remains extant, while extensive fortifications on either side of the Rhône, constructed between 1831 and 1860 by General

Guillaume Henri Dufour Guillaume Henri Dufour (; 15 September 178714 July 1875) was a Swiss military officer, structural engineer and topographer. He served under Napoleon I and held the Swiss office of General four times in his career, firstly in 1847 when he led t ...

have disappeared.

Description

The Fort de Cindey is arranged along a mined gallery paralleling the face of the Scex escarpment at a distance from the rock face of about , with side galleries extending to the cliff face for observation posts and artillery positions. Lateral branches to the interior of the mountain lead to troop accommodations, the command post, ammunition magazines and utility areas. The fort was planned as a mixed artillery and infantry position that could provide supporting fire to the anti-tank barrier across the Rhône valley at Lavey. Cindey is connected to the adjoining Fort du Scex by the natural caves of the

Grotte aux Fées Grotte may refer to: *Grotte, Sicily, a comune in the province of Agrigento, Italy *Grotte di Castro, a comune in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region Latium *Robert Grotte (1913–1964), New Zealand professional rugby league footballer ...

. The Fort de Cindey was initially armed with two 105 mm guns in individual casemates. Four 90 mm anti-tank guns and three machine guns were added in the 1950s. The fort was also equipped with four mobile 81 mm mortars. Ammunition magazines and an infirmary were added at this time. Routine access to the fort for supplies was provided by an aerial

cableway Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by driv ...

. The fort's power and communications were provided by the Fort du Scex, which had had its guns deactivated and was used as a command post until 1995. The fort continued in service until 1995, when it was deactivated. All of the guns remain in place.

Present status

The fort is available for public tours in summer months, together with the Fort du Scex and the Grotte aux Fées.

References

External links

Forts de Scex and Cindey

Festung Cindey
(in German, access from Schweiz menu) {{authority control Fortress Saint-Maurice Cold War museums in Switzerland World War II museums in Switzerland Museums in Valais