Franzensfeste Fortress (; , literally "Franz's Fortress") is a

fortress 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 L ...

situated in the village of

Franzensfeste Franzensfeste (; ) is a ''comune'' and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is named after the large Franzensfeste Fortress erected from 1833 to 1838 and Franzensfeste railway station, Franzensfeste station is also known as an important ...

, in

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Emperor Francis I began constructing the fortress in 1833. In 1838 the project was abandoned, because the area was not considered to be of sufficient importance for a fortress. In the summer of 2008 the fortress was opened to the public for the first time as one of the locations of

Manifesta Manifesta, also known as the European Nomadic Biennial, is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale. History Manifesta was founded in 1994 by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen. The first edition took place in Rotterdam. One of t ...

7, the European Biennial of Contemporary art.

References

Forts in Italy Castles in South Tyrol {{TrentinoAltoAdige-geo-stub