What to See in Colico - Top Sights and Attractions

Open air museum in Italy. Fort Montecchio-Lusardi is a military fort situated in Colico, in the province of Lecco, northern Italy. It was built between 1911 and 1914.

It is the only Italian fort from World War I which has been preserved intact with its original weapons. The main function of the fort was to control the roads of Spluga, Maloja and Stelvio, in case the Central Powers decided to invade northern Italy, violating the neutrality of Switzerland.

The fort was one of the strongholds in a complex barrier system which extended up to Monte Legnone, though it remained inactive throughout the World War. During World War II the fort also never entered a major action: the only gunshots were fired after the fort was occupied by the partisans, at a German column that marched along the opposite bank of the lake. However, in 1944/1945, the fort figured in the Italian fascist regime’s planning for a Ridotto Alpino Repubblicano, or Alpine redoubt in the Valtellina, to make a last stand against the Allied advance.

The fort was later used as a weapons depot.

Attractions in the fort include four French 149 mm guns, with a range of 14 km, each rotating inside a cast-iron dome. The fort is divided into two parts: the lower area contains housing and powder magazines, and the upper part contains guns. The two areas are linked by a curved gallery.^[2]

Farmstay in Colico, Italy. Fort Fuentes, Italian: Forte di Fuentes, is a former military fort on the hill of Montecchio or Monteggiolo near Colico, in the province of Lecco, Lombardy, northern Italy.

It was built by the Spanish governor of Milan, Don Pedro Enríquez de Acevedo, Count of Fuentes, to command the Pian di Spagna and the strategic Trivio di Fuentes, the crossroads between the Valtellina, the Valchiavenna and the Alto Lario, in order to defend the northern border of the Spanish domain against the Grisons to the north. Construction was begun in 1603 or October 1609 under military architect Gabrio Brusca, and was substantially complete within three years. Ancillary fortified structures were the tower of Sorico, the Torretta del Passo, the Fortino d'Adda, the Torrino di Borgofrancone, the Torretta di Curcio and the tower of Fontanedo. Like the city of Milan, the fort of Fuentes yielded in 1706 to Prince Eugène of Savoy, ending Spanish control of the area. It is thought that the Samolaco horse derives in part from Spanish stock abandoned by the garrisons of these fortifications.

The fort was visited in 1769 by the Emperor Joseph II, who declared it militarily useless. It was decommissioned in 1782, and the hill auctioned to a private buyer. The fortress was largely demolished in 1796 by general Rambeau on the orders of Napoleon and at the request of the Grisons. During the 19th century the ruins became the refuge of groups of bandits which the Austrian gendarmerie was unable to dislodge.

From 1911 until 1913 the Fort Montecchio-Lusardi with eight gun emplacements were constructed on the site, and the circular Spanish tower on the western side demolished at this time. The fort saw no action during the First World War.

In 1987 the entire hill, with the ruins of the fort, was acquired by the province of Como, and later passed to the province of Lecco. The Associazione Forte di Fuentes, an association for the protection of the historic site, was formed in 1998.^[3]