A little piece of unknown Italy: San Marco

Hey guys,
for my first post on Steemit i would like to talk to you about a secret spot of my land: Forte San Marco (Saint Mark fortress)

If you like trekking, walks in the nature and history I hope you will enjoy it ;)

The fortress is in northern Italy, closer to the town known as Rivoli Veronese. You can see San Marco from highway A22, between the exit Affi-Lago di Garda Sud and Ala-Avio, on the top of Mount Cordespino (451 m.) in Lubiara area. It isn't difficult to reach, it's enough to park at the foot of the mount and then walk for 45 minutes (20 if you prefer the harder pathway) enjoying the view of the eolic park and Rivoli Veronese with his epic Wohlgemuth fortress.

(Landscape looking South)

Suddenly you can see it back to the trees.

Although it is sorrounded by a moat you can enter by the main entrance easily.

There are two big courtyards and a lot of rooms, including ammunition depots and a barrack. It is a labyrinthine series of long tunnels where you expect see red sparkling eyes in the dark, but fortunately i’ve never seen them.

(Norther courtyard, arches in red ammonitic)

(A beautiful series of arches in terracotta)

(Fear of the dark?)

Moving through the tunnels you can reach the higher part of the fortress and here, kissed by the wind, you can enjoy the view of Adige valley to the north-east, it guarantee an easy way to reach Austria and Germany through the mountains and further norther you can see Mount Baldo (2218 m.). To the west you can see Garda lake, it's only 10 kilometers from here.

(North-east)

(North)

(West)

But what's the story of Forte San Marco?

Before the Italian wars of independence these territories were part of the Austro-Hungarian kingdom. The Austrians built two fortresses (Wohlgemuth and Mollinary) on two opposite sides of the Adige valley, both facing south to counteract the Italian enemy.
After the bloody independence wars of 1866 the "Land of fortresses" became the territory of present-day Italy and it was necessary to build a new fortress that was north oriented to complete the line of defense against Austria-Hungary.
Thus it was that in 1888 construction work for San Marco began and ended in 1913.
The fortress was heavily armed during the First World War, however it did not participate in any combat: it fired only a few shots at the Austrian planes heading for Verona to bomb it.
In the end the fortress was useful only for the troop quartering.
It quickly finished its glory period and since then it was no longer used.
Today it remains solitary and abandoned to itself, except when it is visited by people walking and sometimes even by soft air players.

I was here the first time when i was sixteen and I immediately fell in love with this old witness of war, during the years it has become for me something like a fortress of solitude.
Even here time has overcome its challenge: everything is enveloped in vegetation thanks to the state of abandonment in which it find itself. Among the trees and ivy leaves on the walls you can relax yourself, enjoying the silence and the landscapes and if you are brave enough to spend the night here it’s good to look at the stars too. :)