Above Naters in the old artillery fortress, visitors can tour the Swiss Guards Museum "Zentrum Garde" and immerse themselves in 500 years of Swiss Guards history.

The exhibition in the rock  
The military fortress was built between 1939 and 1940 and has been repeatedly modernized to this day. At the time, its cannons protected the strategically important Simplon Pass and the Simplon railroad tunnel.

Room for up to 200 men
The fortress with all its facilities, from the kitchen to the detention room, was like a small underground village that could accommodate a maximum of 200 men. Until 2002, the fortress was considered top secret. Today, an exhibition about the Swiss Guards can be seen in the former ammunition chambers.

The second hall is still in its original state
In the second hall, there are endless rows of concrete racks where the cannons were once stored. Today, these contain personal items that guardsmen and their relatives have donated to the Guards Museum.

Did you know?
No Swiss municipality has provided more guardsmen over the centuries than the Valais village of Naters.

Admission to the Guards Museum is free with the newly introduced guest card.

Further information is now available at www.zentrumgarde.ch or www.caverna-naters.ch .


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.