Dufour Fortifications (Vaud/Valais)

The Dufour Fortifications near Bex are a group of nineteenth-century defensive works spread across the municipality of Bex in canton Vaud and the municipalities of Saint-Maurice and Vérossaz in canton Valais. They once guarded the narrow gateway where the Rhône valley opens toward Lake Geneva.

What are the Dufour Fortifications?

Construction started in 1831. The Federal Diet had decided the year before that several Swiss passes needed defending, and at Saint-Maurice the design was led by military engineer Guillaume-Henri Dufour, later a general. The main goal was to hold the bridge over the Rhône, then the only crossing of the river between the lake and the upper valley.

What did the system include?

The right-bank works were meant to block an enemy advancing from the direction of Bex. They comprised:

• loopholed walls and palisades,
• the Gauthier, Arzillier and Capucins batteries,
• the bastioned front at Lavey,
• the Crête redoubt,
• earth ramparts and ditches.

A Rhône Battery also stood on a rocky ridge above the river and was strengthened in 1848. It was demolished in 1959 when the road passage was widened.

How did it evolve?

The defences were extended in 1848, 1859 and 1892. By the late 1800s, high-explosive shells filled with melinite had made the 1831 walls obsolete. From 1892 the forts of Savatan and Dailly took over the valley's defence, and Dufour's earlier works became heritage.

What can you see today?

Only parts remain, scattered across slopes and beside roads. The Arzillier Battery is listed as a Swiss cultural property of national importance, and some remains can be visited. Check with the tourist offices in Bex or Saint-Maurice for what is currently open; Saint-Maurice also promotes other military heritage, including Fort Cindey.

How do you get there?

The site lies on the cantonal border at roughly 46.224 N, 7.007 E. The easiest approach is by train to Bex or Saint-Maurice, both on the line along the Rhône valley. The two towns are close together, so a visit to both fits into one outing.

When should you visit?

Outdoor remains and walking routes are best from late spring to autumn, when slopes are dry and free of snow. In winter some paths can be slippery.

Frequently asked questions

Who designed the fortifications?

Guillaume-Henri Dufour, a colonel at the time and later a general of the Swiss army, directed the work.

Why were they built at Saint-Maurice?

To defend the pass and the Rhône bridge, a key point on the route from Lake Geneva into the Alps.

Do the fortifications survive intact?

No. Selected elements remain, while the Rhône Battery disappeared in 1959.

What replaced them at the end of the century?

The Savatan and Dailly forts, begun in 1892.