Overview
A titanic military work, it covers an area of 65,000 square metres, designed to accommodate around 1100 soldiers and divided into two fortified nuclei, the lower and upper fort, connected by an intermediate level and an underground staircase of 452 steps. It is impossible not to notice it when going up the Isarco valley north of the Bressanone basin, near the confluence with the Pusteria valley, where the space between the mountains narrows, leaving only a narrow passage for the road and the river. The fortress was built with tremendous effort by the army of Franz I of Habsburg starting in 1833, when Fortezza (the town that today bears his name) did not yet exist: it was the workers, craftsmen and soldiers engaged in the work that created it. At its foot, the lake of Fortezza, created in 1940 by damming the Eisack to feed a hydroelectric power station. The entire history of the complex is told by the provincial museum, set up inside: when visiting it, you discover that the fort never experienced sieges or any particular war time event, but served as a military logistics hub, weapons depot and barracks until 2003. A beautiful neo-Gothic church, built for the garrison, can also be admired, and exhibitions, shows and cultural events are often held there.
