The Rifugio Quintino Sella al Monviso is an alpine hut located in the municipality of Crissolo at 2640 m above sea level on a rocky promontory below the east face of Monviso and above Lake Grande di Viso. It is named after Quintino Sella, founder of the Italian Alpine Club and organizer of the first completely Italian expedition to reach the top of Monviso.
Rifugio Quintino Sella History
The Rifugio Quintino Sella was built between 1904 and 1905, and inaugurated on July 23, 1905. At the time it was known as the Quintino Sella refuge at Lago Grande to distinguish it from a second refuge of the same name, the Quintino Sella Superiore refuge. The latter was located in the upper part of the Forciolline valley, at an altitude of 2950 m, near the Sacripante fountain; founded in 1881 as a Sacripante refuge, it was renovated in 1886 and dedicated to Quintino Sella, who passed away the previous year. It consisted of a masonry construction lined internally with wood and had two rooms with stove; the extremely small dimensions, however, made it look more like a modern bivouac than a refuge. The Sella Superiore hut remained active, even if, as already said, more like a modern bivouac, until 1932, when it was destroyed by fire; restored and reopened the following year, it was destroyed by avalanches in 1936, and definitively abandoned.
The current Sella alpine hut originally had a capacity of 63 places; it was enlarged for the first time in 1927, and a second between 1975 and 1979, bringing the maximum capacity to 145 seats, with 20 seats in the winter room.
In 1956, on the square in front of the refuge, the chapel that consecrates the memory of the fallen on Monviso is consecrated.
It offers restaurant, bar and hotel service and is equipped with an internal satellite connection.