Agaisen, Sospel

Ouvrage L'Agaisen is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also known as the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, two artillery blocks and one observation block above Sospel. Additional blocks were planned but not built. The ouvrage is located at an altitude of 663m on the Agaisen massif overlooking Sospel from the north. The position fired 1821 shots from Block 3's 75mm gun turret in 1940. It has an unusual 75mm gun turret in Block 3.The ouvrage was built between 1930 and 1935, and was equipped from 1935 to 1937. L'Agaisen possesses an instruction casemate that was used to allow soldiers to practice attack and defense skills.DescriptionOuvrage l'Agaisen was built between November 1930 and December 1934, beginning with a contractor named Marting and completed by Roussel. The construction cost was 24.6 million francs, of which 2.7 million francs were for the access road. The underground galleries run parallel with the ridge, the barracks under the summit. Block 4, an observation block, is at the extreme east end of the ridge. Block 1 (entry): one machine gun cloche, one grenade launcher cloche and two machine gun embrasures.Block 2 (artillery): one machine gun cloche, one grenade launcher cloche, one twin machine gun cloche, one twin machine gun embrasure, two 75mm/31cal gun embrasures and two 81mm mortar embrasures, firing to the southwest.Block 3 (artillery): one machine gun cloche, one twin machine gun cloche, one twin 76mm/31cal retractable gun turret and one twin machine gun embrasure. The turret has a 360-degree field of fire from the summit.Block 4 (observation): one observation cloche, two machine gun embrasures. A fifth block with four 81mm mortars was never built.Three observation posts ere associated with l'Agaisen, including the petit ouvrage Champ de Tir de l'Agaisen.

For travelers who use our international travel planner, Sospel holidays become easier to arrange, with trips to the Agaisen and other attractions mapped out and timetabled.
Source