Forte Sperone is a fortification included in the "New Walls" built to defend the Italian city of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, located on top of Mount Peralto. The union of two walls, one on the side of

Val Polcevera Val Polcevera is one of the main valleys crossing Genoa, taking its name from the eponymous river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower ...

and the other on the side of

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, gives the fort the appearance of the bow of a ship, from which its name derives. Due to its dominant position, it was one of the most important structures of the fortifications of Genoa.

Description

Forte Sperone has a complex structure, built on three distinct levels. The first level, which holds the main entrance, was designed to house warehouses, service rooms, and cisterns; on the second level were offices and rooms for officers and NCOs, and on the third level were rooms for soldiers. The structure normally sheltered a garrison of about 300 soldiers, which could reach 900 in case of need. The importance of the fort was evidenced by its artillery pieces: 18 cannons of various sizes, nine

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

s, and numerous smaller pieces.

History

The presence of a

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centu ...

fortress at the location, built initially of wood and then of stone, called "Bastia del Peralto", has been documented since 1319. In 1530, the Senate of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

commissioned its reconstruction. This structure was likely incorporated into the New Walls at the time of their construction (1629-1633). During the Austrian siege of 1747, an elevated structure was erected at the point where the walls joined, to increase the firepower of the bastion. After the end of the war, the construction of the actual fort began: with progressive extensions which lasted until 1830, the structure assumed the aspect that we can still observe today. In the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and history of Europe, Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly (French Revoluti ...

, a "closing" curtain wall was designed facing the city, to defend the fort from any popular uprisings. This curtain, in which the monumental entrance portal was inserted, was built after 1815. The entrance portal, surmounted by a

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coat of arms in marble, is equipped with a drawbridge, still present with its lifting mechanism to this day. In 1823, a special commission prepared the plans for a project, never carried out (probably due to the very high cost that it would have entailed), to integrate the three fortifications of Peralto (Castellaccio, Sperone, and Begato) into a single citadel. During the uprisings of 1849, the fort was occupied for a short time by rioters, who abandoned it as events turned in favour of the royal army.

Recent history

After the decommissioning of the Genoese fortifications, ordered in 1914, Croatian and Serbian prisoners of war were held in the fort during World War I. In 1918, the prison was administered by Francesco Calì, who had been a footballer and first captain of the

Italian national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for football in Italy, which ...

. From 1958 to 1981, the fort was used as a barracks for the

Guardia di Finanza The Guardia di Finanza (; G. di F. or GdF; or ) is an Italian militarised law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Economy and Finance, instead of the Ministry of Defence (Italy), Ministry of Defence ...

, and subsequently taken over by the Municipality of Genoa, which organized cultural events there in the summer.

Image gallery

File:Genova forte Sperone.jpg, Forte Sperone seen from Begato walls (2012) File:Forte Sperone Genova 08.JPG, Main entrance to the fort (2013) File:Genova Forte Sperone bastione.jpg, The abutment that gives the name to the fortress (2010) File:Genova Forte Sperone meccanismo ponte levatoio.jpg, Drawbridge lifting mechanism (2010)

References

External links

{{Commons
Municipality of Genoa official website

Buildings and structures in Genoa Tourist attractions in Genoa Military history of Genoa