Forte Gonzaga, also known as Castel Gonzaga, is a bastioned

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. It was built in the mid-16th century, and it remained in use by the military until 1973. Today, the fort is in good condition.

History

In the 1540s, the fortifications of Messina were being modernized due to fears of the expanding

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Forte Gonzaga was built on the hill of Montepiselli, outside the city walls. It was able to defend the

mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

landward approach to the city, and it also overlooked the

Strait of Messina The Strait of Messina (; ) is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily (Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria (Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north with the Ionian Sea to the south, with ...

. The fort was designed by Antonio Ferramolino, a military engineer from

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

. He was assisted by Francesco Maurolico, a native of Messina. It was named after the

Viceroy of Sicily A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

Don

Ferrante Gonzaga Ferrante I Gonzaga (also Ferdinando I Gonzaga; 28 January 1507 – 15 November 1557) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the House of Gonzaga and the founder of the branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla. Biography Ferrante was born in Mantua ...

, and was completed in 1545. The Ottoman threat was reduced after the Catholic victory in the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...

in 1571, and the fort's importance began to decline. It saw use during the 1674–78 uprising against Spanish rule. Spain eventually lost Sicily in 1713, but invaded the island five years later during the

War of the Quadruple Alliance The War of the Quadruple Alliance, 1718 to 1720, was a conflict between Spain and a coalition of Austria, Great Britain, France, and Savoy, joined in 1719 by the Dutch Republic. Most of the fighting took place in Sicily and Spain, with minor engag ...

. During the invasion, the fort did not offer much resistance and was captured by the Spanish general Luca Spinola. During the

Sicilian revolution of 1848 The Sicilian revolution of independence of 1848 (; ) which commenced on 12 January 1848 was the first of the numerous Revolutions of 1848 which swept across Europe. It was a popular rebellion against the rule of Ferdinand II of the House of Bourb ...

, the fort was captured by rebels, who used it to bombard the

Real Cittadella The Real Cittadella was a fort in Messina, Sicily. The Cittadella was built between 1680 and 1686 by the Spanish Empire, and it was considered to be one of the most important fortifications in the Mediterranean. Most of the fort was demolished in ...

which was still in Bourbon hands. Forte Gonzaga saw use in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when it was used by German and Italian forces prior to the Allied invasion, and it was subsequently used by American forward observers to direct artillery fire during the invasion of Italy. It remained a military establishment until 1973, when the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

handed it to the municipality of Messina. There are plans to restore the fort and turn it into a museum and conference centre.

Layout

The fort has an irregular star shape with a number of bastions. The entire structure is surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. A small chapel is located on the fort's terrace.

References

{{Messina Gonzaga Buildings and structures in Messina Buildings and structures completed in 1545 Military installations closed in 1973