Ancien poste optique de la Tête de Girardin

The place

Former military optical relay station at 2860 m on the Tête de Girardin (Queyras, Hautes-Alpes), built in 1899 as part of the Séré de Rivière line. A link in a network of optical posts built in 1899-1900 by the French army on Alpine summits: transmitting and receiving Morse-code messages via steerable light beams, along the Alpine chain from Nice to Lake Geneva and beyond to Paris, while also monitoring the Italian border. In Queyras, it communicated with four other optical posts: Crêtes des Chambrettes (Ceillac), Sommet Buchet, Pic de l'Agrenier (Château-Ville-Vieille) and Clot la Cime (Arvieux/Izoard). Abandoned by the army after 1945, it now serves as a shelter. Recently renovated on the outside. Very spartan interior with a bare earth floor, no equipment at all, but a good closing door and good wind insulation.