Scientific and technical heritage at Valfréjus and Modane

A tunnel that brought Modane an unparalleled boom at the beginning of the 20th century, as the small mountain village suddenly became a border town with a huge railway station, hundreds of workers, shopkeepers, customs officers, soldiers... To find out more about the techniques invented and used to drill this tunnel, which began with a crowbar and was completed with compressed-air perforators, visit the exhibition at the monumental entrance, installed in an old steam train on the road to Valfréjus.

Underground laboratory

The Fréjus road tunnel completed the France/Italy axis a century later. At the heart of the tunnel is a CNRS laboratory. Sheltered from light and protected from cosmic rays, scientists from all over the world conduct experiments to unravel the mysteries of the universe.

Note: other astonishing scientific and technical heritages can be seen in Haute Maurienne Vanoise, such as Onera's giant wind tunnels and hydroelectric dams and power stations.