Forte Montecchio Nord is the best-preserved First World War
fortress in all of Europe. It was built just before the beginning of the War,
and was part of the Northern Frontier defensive system to Switzerland. This
strategic position on Piani di Spagna allowed to simultaneously control all the
main access points to the Italian territory, where in the early 1900s the main
roads and railways passed: Val Chiavenna in fact was and still is the
most direct route that conncets Mediterranean to Northern Europe. The military
front never arrived to Colico, but this fort still helps us to understand the
kind of life that the soldiers played during that time.
Visiting this fort we can take a step back in time of more
than 100 years and see how the soldiers life at the front was. Crossing a 120
meter long tunnel, you pass through an ammunition depot, and finally arrive at
the main attraction of this fortress: the four turrets equipped with cannons
that are still perfectly preserved and functioning. These turrets can rotate at
360 degrees and launch ammunition weighing 52 kg for a range of over 13,000
meters.
During the Second World War Fote Montecchio was used only as
a training base, its only use that we can consider part of the war history was
April 26, 1945, when the fort was occupied by the National Liberation
Committee, and the German soldiers inside it were arrested. The day after, five
shots were fired from the fort's cannons with the intention of stopping the
German convoy that had escorted Mussolini towards Switzerland; even if the
shots did not go to sign the German general arrived in Colico anyway to sign a
negotiation with the Colico National Liberation Committee.
Info: https://www.fortemontecchionord.it/
Forte Montecchio Nord
Via alle Torri 8, 23823 Colico
(LC)
Tel. +39 0341 940322
