User Reviews
This small village of Castelmola is a real genuine natural terrace built around the ruins of a Norman castle. The Norman walls are all that remain of the fortress.
A plaque from the tenth century with Greek-Byzantine engravings placed on the façade of the cathedral states: This castle was built under Costantino, patrician and strategist of Sicily. It is probably referring to Costantino Caramalo, who in the ninth century defended the bastion, city and territory from attacks by the Arabs.
The centrality of the castle of Mola is historically proved not only in the Middle Ages, but also in the wars between the French and Spanish. Once you entered the village through a gate carved into the rock right at the base of a stairway made from white lavastone.
References:The historical centre of Briançon is a strongly fortified town, built by Vauban to defend the region from Austrians in the 17th century. Its streets are very steep and narrow, though picturesque. Briançon lies at the foot of the descent from the Col de Montgenèvre, giving access to Turin, so a great number of other fortifications have been constructed on the surrounding heights, especially towards the east.
The Savoyards made two raids into French territory in 1691 and 1692. As a result, Vauban was dispatched to inspect the frontier defences, which had been ill-equiped to deal with the attack from Savoy. He returned to the area in 1700 to check on the progress that had been made since his first visit. When Vauban visited Briançon, work on the defences had already started under a local engineer, Monsieur d"Angrogne in 1692.