Forte Santa Viola

Forte Santa Viola stands on the hill of the same name at an altitude of 830m, in the Municipality of Grezzana. Like the other forts that made up Lessinia's defensive system – Forte Masua, Monte Tesoro, San Briccio and Castelletto – it was built towards the end of the 19th century. In particular, it was designed to defend the Valpantena and the Val Squaranto.

In terms of its architecture, the fort is a long building that curves slightly in a 'V' shape. Concealed by a shaped embankment, it is three floors high, with exposed stone masonry using the opus incertum technique that forms a very imposing façade. As for the rest of the structure, there are three floors with various rooms, from the electric generator room to the storage rooms, small laboratories, the garrison's kitchen, the bedrooms for officers and soldiers, the infirmary, the cartridge store, and much more. The top floor, meanwhile, housed the machine guns. These rooms are now covered by four domes.

After years of neglect, significant restoration work has now been carried out on the Forte Santa Viola by the Mountain Community of Lessinia, with the aim of turning it into an information point regarding the defence system north of the city of Verona.

The fort is not currently open to visitors without a specific request to the Municipality of Grezzana, so there are no specific opening hours.

HOW TO GET THERE: The fort can be reached from Cerro. Take the paved road after the town, continue on a dirt road, enter the pine forest and pass the old barracks until you reach the entrance to the fort. You can also reach the building from Grezzana by heading uphill towards Romagnano and then Azzago. From there, follow the signs for Forte Santa Viola.