FORTE AIROLO

The fortress was built between 1886 and 1890 to protect the St Gotthard railway tunnel, which opened in 1885, and to prevent an invasion of the country from the south, at a time when the state of international relations and the Triple Entente were causing concern among the Swiss authorities. The fort, which is buried, is reminiscent of the buried fortifications developed in the 16th century to escape low-lying cannon fire (Salses Castle). It is now used to house recruits. A museum occupying half the site was opened in 1898.