The Fortress is a 5K UHD cinematic drone video about what is possibly Europe's largest fortress. The Fenestrelle is a fortress overlooking Fenestrelle. It is the symbol of the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is the biggest alpine fortification in Europe, having a surface area of 1,300,000 m². The fortress, built by Savoy between 1728 and 1850 under the design of the architect Ignazio Bertola, guards the access to Turin via the Chisone valley and stands at altitudes between 1,100 and 1,800 m. The territory was acquired in 1709 by the Duchy of Savoy (later known as the Kingdom of Sardinia) after the defeat of the French at fort Mutin (Fenestrelle).

The history of modern fortifications in the Fenestrelle area, began in 1690, when the King of France Louis XIV appointed Nicolas Catinat as commander of the French Army against the Duke of Savoy’s Army during the Nine Years' War. General Catinat, better known in Piedmont for his victory at the Battle of Staffarda, the destruction of the Castle of Avigliana and the fire at the Castle of Rivoli, understood the danger posed by the Chisone Valley for the French Army and decided to build 3 small redoubts and a fort in the Fenestrelle area. More specifically, in 1694 Nicolas Catinat obtained the approval of Louis XIV to build Fort Mutin. During the War of the Spanish Succession, this imposing fortification was besieged in August 1708 by Victor Amadeus II’s troops and conquered in 15 days.

At the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, France officially ceded Fenestrelle and the upper Val Chisone to the Duchy of Savoy as required by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The treaty gave the Kingdom of Sicily to the Duchy of Savoy, making Victor Amadeus II the first king of the House of Savoy. For political reasons the Kingdom of Sicily was then exchanged with the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1720.

Fort Mutin was restored, but Victor Amadeus II found it insufficient for the protection of the Val Chisone. So he instructed military architect Ignazio Bertola to design and build a complex of forts in Fenestrelle. They were connected by a 3 km long wall, an indoor staircase of 3,996 steps unique in Europe and an outside staircase of 2,500 steps. The construction began in the summer of 1728 and ended in 1793; then it started again in 1836, ending definitively in 1850. Besides Ignazio Bertola, other engineers and military architects worked at Fenestrelle; among them: Vittorio Amedeo Varino de La Marche, Lorenzo Bernardino Pinto (who was one of Bertola’s apprentices and also worked at the Fort of Exilles), Nicolis di Robilant and Carlo Andrea Rana.

During the Napoleonic Era when Fenestrelle was again under the French influence, it was used as a prison by the French Empire: notable prisoners were Joseph de Maistre and Bartolomeo Pacca. The prison also held Pierre Picaud, whose story was the inspiration for Edmond Dantès, the main character in Dumas’s Count of Monte Cristo. The Kingdom of Sardinia locked political prisoners, Mazzini's supporters and common criminals in the fort, including the Archbishop Luigi Fransoni.

In 1861, after the unification of Italy, some Kingdom of the Two Sicilies supporters (mainly soldiers, but the number is unknown) were put into the fort, which for some revisionist academics became a concentration camp. Several Garibaldi's and Papal States supporters were also locked up.

After the Kingdom of Italy joined the Triple Alliance in 1882, the fort was upgraded. After 1887, it became the headquarters of the Fenestrelle battalion of the 3rd Alpini Regiment.

After World War II, the fort was abandoned and left to decay, most of the available material being plundered. In 1990 a redevelopment action, guided by a group of volunteers, known as Progetto San Carlo (ONLUS) was started. In the 1999 it has become the symbol of the former Province of Turin and in 2007 the World Monuments Fund has included it among the 100 most important archaeological sites of the world.

Now that’s how you do it. Good video, supporting information & interesting location. Good to watch & glad I wasn't on the original fort building team.

sky wombat Posted at 2018-6-3 11:33
Now that’s how you do it. Good video, supporting information & interesting location. Good to watch & glad I wasn't on the original fort building team.

Thank you, it's a pity the place is practically abandoned. Such a waste of heritage.

What an incredible place. Magnificent views. Thanks for the share.

Great job in vid, and history lesson too!

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-6-3 11:47
What an incredible place. Magnificent views. Thanks for the share.

Thank you Blériot53

ALABAMA Posted at 2018-6-3 12:01
Great job in vid, and history lesson too!

Thanks Alabama!

Great video, scenery and history

Aloha Elektrica,

     Wow, what a site!  Truly amazing.  Mahalo for shooting the video!  The history is also an excellent addition.

Aloha and Drone On!

Impressive! It's a pleasure to watch your video.

Impressive work!   

Great work

Excellent work !!

Awesome video! Keep on sharing!

Good work

Markon Posted at 2018-6-3 18:57
Great video, scenery and history

Thank you Markon. Next trip: Tuscany. Let's hope on the weather

Cetacean Posted at 2018-6-4 02:27
Aloha Elektrica,

     Wow, what a site!  Truly amazing.  Mahalo for shooting the video!  The history is also an excellent addition.

Aloha my friend, thanks for the nice feedback

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-6-4 04:19
Impressive! It's a pleasure to watch your video.

Thanks as always Susan

A CW Posted at 2018-6-4 04:26
Impressive work!

As always...Thanks A CW

Bracco Posted at 2018-6-4 04:30
Great work

Thank you Bracco, I really appreciate the kind feedback

Nebuchadnezzar Posted at 2018-6-4 06:08
Excellent work !!

Thanks Nebuchadnezzar

DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-6-4 10:24
Awesome video! Keep on sharing!

Thanks you Natalia, you make awesome machines. The Zenmuse X7 is a real wonder, even in the hands of a rookie

DEUCEDOG Posted at 2018-6-4 10:44
Good work

Thanks DeiceDog and thanks for the continued support.

Elektrica Atellani Posted at 2018-6-4 10:55
Thanks DeiceDog and thanks for the continued support.

Your welcome .... thanks for posting

great!!!  
enormous fortress!!!

I don`t thnik we have something even similar in Croaita

Interesting!
Video editing makes no sense though. It's a concatenation of different clips not mounting into logical story telling.
Your story telling is more about what your drone can do rather than about this fortress.

Also: I find Copy & Paste from Wikipedia should be marked as a quote. Even if its legal to steal from them.

BTW: The Pierre Picaud story is an assumption that no one was ever able to prove.

Good luck for better documentations ;-)

Eric13 Posted at 2018-6-4 11:37
Interesting!
Video editing makes no sense though. It's a concatenation of different clips not mounting into logical story telling.
Your story telling is more about what your drone can do rather than about this fortress.

That's why we use the word rookie (Or else) for ourselves! Maybe it makes sense for some and not others. the Wiki information is meant to be informative and somewhere (Probably reddit), we also mentioned it's a rumor. We are just trying to spark interest into a location that is mostly abandoned and we do that the best way we can, with the time we can spare for doing so. If that gets people more interested and they visit the place or read about it, all the better, mission accomplished. We don't try to show off what the drone can do, we genuinely try to share places  we like. I think you read our intentions and abilities (We never claim being Kubrick, quite the contrary) the wrong way. Anyway, you're right, there might be no story telling.

smirnoff9969 Posted at 2018-6-4 11:26
great!!!  
enormous fortress!!!

Thanks Smirnoff9969

Elektrica Atellani Posted at 2018-6-4 11:56
That's why we use the word rookie (Or else) for ourselves! Maybe it makes sense for some and not others. the Wiki information is meant to be informative and somewhere (Probably reddit), we also mentioned it's a rumor. We are just trying to spark interest into a location that is mostly abandoned and we do that the best way we can, with the time we can spare for doing so. If that gets people more interested and they visit the place or read about it, all the better, mission accomplished. We don't try to show off what the drone can do, we genuinely try to share places  we like. I think you read our intentions and abilities (We never claim being Kubrick, quite the contrary) the wrong way. Anyway, you're right, there might be no story telling.

No Beef!
It keeps being an interesting story/location. Keep it up!

Eric13 Posted at 2018-6-4 12:05
No Beef!
It's still an interesting story/location. Keep it up!

Oh, none taken, really. We're aware we are not good filmakers, we just like to share what we like, to the best of our abilities.

Elektrica Atellani Posted at 2018-6-4 12:07
Oh, none taken, really. We're aware we are not good filmakers, we just like to share what we like, to the best of our abilities.

This video gives me great encouragement and lessons to  capture tell the story. It’s so easy to watch without unnecessary transitions.  The flow is smooth and keeps the viewer engaged.

The history lesson is great too. Perhaps you could integrate voice narration to tell the story .

Elektrica Atellani Posted at 2018-6-4 12:07
Oh, none taken, really. We're aware we are not good filmakers, we just like to share what we like, to the best of our abilities.

This video gives me great encouragement and lessons to  capture tell the story. It’s so easy to watch without unnecessary transitions.  The flow is smooth and keeps the viewer engaged.

The history lesson is great too. Perhaps you could integrate voice narration to tell the story .

Rivi Posted at 2018-6-4 12:18
This video gives me great encouragement and lessons to  capture tell the story. It’s so easy to watch without unnecessary transitions.  The flow is smooth and keeps the viewer engaged.

The history lesson is great too. Perhaps you could integrate voice narration to tell the story .

Dear Rivi, voice narration would be interesting (Tried once with a computer generated voiceover), but it complicates things quite a bit. It's really a matter of time and human resources. These videos are shot in 20 / 30 minutes max, then edited in 1 to 3 hours and posted. The whole process happens 99% of the times on the same day and with a total time spent on the project of usually no more than 4 hours, excluding the trip to get to the location. There's usually no planning involved at all, no script, no litchi apps or two operators. This is really a 100% B movie (Or C or even D) production but we love the spontaneous process. Thanks for the kind support, we love doing this.

Another awesome submission. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.

Elektrica Atellani Posted at 2018-6-4 12:30
Dear Rivi, voice narration would be interesting (Tried once with a computer generated voiceover), but it complicates things quite a bit. It's really a matter of time and human resources. These videos are shot in 20 / 30 minutes max, then edited in 1 to 3 hours and posted. The whole process happens 99% of the times on the same day and with a total time spent on the project of usually no more than 4 hours, excluding the trip to get to the location. There's usually no planning involved at all, no script, no litchi apps or two operators. This is really a 100% B movie (Or C or even D) production  but we love the spontaneous process. Thanks for the kind support, we love doing this.

Ofcourse it is tough to do a narration of the extensive research you have done.  

Hurley1718 Posted at 2018-6-4 15:29
Another awesome submission. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.

Thank you Hurley1718

Superb video

Montfrooij Posted at 2018-6-4 22:53
Superb video

Thanks as always my friend

Elektrica Atellani Posted at 2018-6-4 23:36
Thanks as always my friend

As always : more than welcome!

What awesome places we continue to be impressed with. Thanks.


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