Forte Tenaglia: Genoa’s Advanced Fortification
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Genoese, Italian, Kingdom of Sardinia
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page10 sections
History
Forte Tenaglia is a fortified work in Genoa, Italy, built in 1633 as part of the New Walls of Genoa, the seventeenth-century defensive circuit around the city. It stands on the heights of Sampierdarena, on a ridge above the Val Polcevera, and was designed as an advanced defense with batteries facing the mouth of the Polcevera stream. Its position developed from the earlier Bastia di Promontorio, a fortification believed to date from 1478.
From the Bastia to the New Walls
The architectural form of the fifteenth-century Bastia di Promontorio is not securely known. In 1625, the threat posed by Franco-Savoyard armies led to proposals for strengthening it. The friar Pier Francesco da Genova stressed the site’s strategic value, while the architect Father Fiorenzuola advised that the Bastia should remain standing until the corresponding section of the new defensive circuit had been completed.
The Bastia was demolished in 1633 as the New Walls were constructed. In its place, the Genoese built an advanced horn work, a projecting fortification with two arms forming a pincer-like outline. This design gave rise to the name Forte Tenaglia. The new work extended the city’s defenses forward and directed its artillery toward the Polcevera.
Sieges, revolt, and Savoyard rebuilding
During the Austrian siege of 1747, Genoa’s western defensive line was reinforced according to plans by the French engineer Jacques De Sicre. Forte Tenaglia was later nearly abandoned. On 11 July 1797, during an anti-French revolt, insurgents took refuge in the fort, but troops commanded by General Duphont defeated them.
After 1815, under the Savoyard Military Engineers, the work was enlarged from an advanced position into a full fort. Between 1815 and 1830, the passage through the horn work was raised with about 10 metres of fill and widened by 25 metres to create a terreplein, a raised level platform within a fortification. From 1831, a buried barracks was placed in the middle of this platform. The northern curtain, meaning the wall connecting defensive positions, and the western front were raised, while parallel curtains closed the perimeter and created the final L-shaped plan.
From military service to civilian stewardship
During the popular disturbances of 1849, insurgents occupied Forte Tenaglia, as they also occupied nearby Forte Belvedere and Forte Crocetta. Royal troops recaptured the fort after information disclosed by a traitor within the insurgents’ ranks enabled the operation.
In 1914, Genoa’s defensive system was considered obsolete and was abandoned. Forte Tenaglia passed from the military public domain to the State’s patrimonial domain, the category of state-owned property not assigned to active military use. In 1917, the fort was used to confine prisoners of war from the Austro-Hungarian army.
During the Second World War, the army converted the older positions into an anti-aircraft battery. After the armistice of 8 September 1943, the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, took control of the fort. An Allied bombardment intended to force the garrison to surrender partially damaged the southern curtain. The fort’s strategic military function ended after the war.
Since 2011, Forte Tenaglia has been granted in concession by its owner, formerly the State and now the Municipality of Genoa, to the nonprofit association La Piuma, now La Piuma OdV. Volunteers have cleared invasive vegetation and waste, conducted topographical surveys, and supported social, cultural, and environmental activities. The association also restored the Casa del Telegrafo in the upper part of the complex, which now contains its family home and spaces for groups, volunteers, and events.
Remains
Forte Tenaglia stands at approximately 208 metres above sea level on a ridge overlooking the Val Polcevera. Built of stone, it formed part of Genoa’s integrated defensive wall system. The seventeenth-century work had a horn-shaped, pincer-like arrangement, while nineteenth-century rebuilding produced an L-shaped perimeter. The surviving complex combines these defensive phases with later military installations and preserved internal features.
Fortifications and internal structures
Horn work and terreplein
The 1633 fortification was an advanced horn-shaped work whose batteries faced the mouth of the Polcevera stream. Project drawings use the French term la tenaille, while a rediscovered marble plaque carries the plural form “tenaglie.” Most historical documents use the singular “tenaglia,” and the plural is attributed to an erroneous translation of the French term. The nineteenth-century alterations raised the horn-work passage by about 10 metres and widened it by 25 metres, forming the terreplein. The northern curtain and western front were elevated, and parallel curtains enclosed the resulting L-shaped perimeter.
Buried barracks and surviving fittings
From 1831, a buried barracks occupied the middle of the terreplein. Other surviving elements include plaster bearing soldiers’ signatures, a hoist for raising materials, original iron grilles, and a well-preserved powder magazine. A powder magazine, also called a santabarbara, was a protected structure for storing gunpowder and other ammunition.
Anti-aircraft installations
At the beginning of the Second World War, four reinforced-concrete platforms were built for 88/56 anti-aircraft guns. The platforms remain visible, together with small nearby structures built for garrison personnel. Several gun platforms survive as part of the complex’s twentieth-century military layer, while the southern curtain retains damage caused by the Allied bombardment.
Casa del Telegrafo
The Casa del Telegrafo occupies the upper part of Forte Tenaglia. Following its restoration, the building contains the La Piuma family home and rooms used by groups, volunteers, and events. Its continued use forms part of the complex’s present community stewardship.
Nearby sites
