Fort Fuentes, it, Forte di Fuentes, italic=no, is a former military

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

on the hill of Montecchio or Monteggiolo near Colico, in the

province of Lecco The Province of Lecco ( it, provincia di Lecco; Lecchese: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco. As of 2017, the province had a population of 337,211 on a surface of divided into 85 ''comuni'' (muni ...

, Lombardy, northern Italy. It was built by the Spanish governor of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, Don

Pedro Enríquez de Acevedo, Count of Fuentes Pedro Henriquez d'Azevedo y Alvarez de Toledo, Count of Fuentes de Valdepero (1525 in Zamora, Spain – 22 July 1610 in Milan, Italy) was a Spanish general and statesman. Biography Born at Zamora, he was a page at the court of Philip II of Spai ...

, to command the Pian di Spagna and the strategic Trivio di Fuentes, the crossroads between the

Valtellina Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. To ...

, the Valchiavenna and the

Alto Lario The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian ( Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in cho ...

, in order to defend the northern border of the Spanish domain against the Grisons to the north. Construction was begun in 1603 or October 1609 under military architect Gabrio Brusca, and was substantially complete within three years. Ancillary fortified structures were the tower of Sorico, the Torretta del Passo, the Fortino d'Adda, the Torrino di Borgofrancone, the Torretta di Curcio and the tower of Fontanedo. Like the city of Milan, the fort of Fuentes yielded in 1706 to

Prince Eugène of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

, ending Spanish control of the area. It is thought that the

Samolaco horse The Samolaco is a rare breed of horse originating from the Valchiavenna and Valtellina, in Lombardy, northern Italy. It takes its name from the town of Samolaco, near Chiavenna in the province of Sondrio. Gravely endangered, it is not among the f ...

derives in part from Spanish stock abandoned by the garrisons of these fortifications. The fort was visited in 1769 by the Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 u ...

, who declared it militarily useless. It was decommissioned in 1782, and the hill auctioned to a private buyer. The fortress was largely demolished in 1796 by general

Rambeau Rambeau is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Claire Rambeau (born 1951), American model * Eddie Rambeau (born 1943), American singer * Marjorie Rambeau (1889–1970), American film and stage actress * Pascal Rambeau (born 197 ...

on the orders of Napoleon and at the request of the Grisons. During the 19th century the ruins became the refuge of groups of bandits which the Austrian gendarmerie was unable to dislodge. From 1911 until 1913 the

Fort Montecchio-Lusardi Fort Montecchio-Lusardi is a military fort situated in Colico, in the province of Lecco, northern Italy. It was built between 1911 and 1914. It is the only Italian fort from World War I which has been preserved intact with its original weapons. T ...

with eight gun emplacements were constructed on the site, and the circular Spanish tower on the western side demolished at this time. The fort saw no action during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. In 1987 the entire hill, with the ruins of the fort, was acquired by the province of Como, and later passed to the province of Lecco. The Associazione Forte di Fuentes, an association for the protection of the historic site, was formed in 1998.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1612 17th-century fortifications Colico Fuentes Buildings and structures in Lombardy 1612 establishments in Italy