Remote high-altitude mountaintop restaurant reopens after devastating fire
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A Swiss mountain restaurant with panoramic views of the Alps has been rebuilt after a devastating fire two years ago.
The Botta restaurant named after its architect Mario Botta is built on a rocky ledge 3,000 meters above sea level and has sweeping views over the Tsanfleuron Glacier and famous peaks including the Eiger, Jungfrau, Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.
Formula 1 founder Bernie Ecclestone is a co-owner of the restaurant.
In September 2022, a fire broke out at the high-altitude Botta restaurant, located above Glacier 3000 at Les Diablerets in French-speaking canton Vaud.
There was no one in the building at the time, and the cause of the fire is still unclear, but arson has been ruled out.
The cable car remained undamaged and winter sports operations were able to resume after around seven weeks with limited catering services.
The rebuild cost 30 million Swiss francs (£26.8 million).
The restaurant can be accessed via an adjacent cable car which forms part of the Glacier 3000 ski resort near the village of Les Diablerets in the French-speaking canton of Vaud.
The reopening took place earlier this week attended by Vaud State Councillor Isabelle Moret and Mr Botta, who described the rebirth of his project as “very moving”.
The reconstruction offered the opportunity to improve fire protection and integrate new technologies.
The new restaurant offers three areas with a total of 480 seats on three floors. A 250-square-metre panoramic terrace on the roof offers ranging views of the Matterhorn and 24 other 4,000-metre peaks.
Some 600 solar panels have been added on the south-west facade and side eaves – enough to cover most of the restaurant’s energy consumption.
“I wanted to refresh the building’s appearance, by giving it an even more solid and resistant character, thus reinforcing the emblematic image of the Devil’s Fork that has marked the identity of this place for the past twenty years,” Mr Botta previously said.
