The Rocca d’Anfo is a complex of fortifications, overlooking the lake of Idro and spread over 50 hectares, has been expanded, rebuilt, and sometimes destroyed, what we see today is the union of 2 fortresses: one Venetian, the oldest in the south, and the other Napoleonic. Its origins go back to the 15th century. The first block you encounter is the Venetian line, from the street the battery Venice looks like a church, because before the last war they built a bell tower on the roof. The Venetian staircase is characterized by a first row of 162 steps and from there on, another 336. The steps are sheathed in two agile walls in which the loopholes for the arquebusiers open. The rebirth of the Rocca d’Anfo occurred with the arrival of Napoleon, who inserted it as a defensive system against Austria. The climb continues, in a tunnel, between one skylight and another, until you reach the highest part, an observatory tower with a perfect geometry in granite and brick. It took 10 years to build all this, but the French failed to complete the work.    Following the fall of Napoleon, the Rocca d’Anfo became the greatest outpost of the Habsburg power of the Sabbia Valley. With the unification of Italy (1861) and the development that followed in the late 1800s, it underwent a renewal of defensive equipment with expansion and restructuring works.    In the First World War it was the exact center of gravity of all the fortified defense works of the Valle Sabbia and became the logistics center of the entire defensive line until the end of the war. From that moment, however, it was used as a barracks, logistical support point and storage of weapons and ammunition. The Rocca d’Anfo was used by the Italian Army until 1975 and then abandoned.    Today the Rocca can be visited by reservation every weekend from May to October, with shifts even infra-weekly in July and August.

TICKET OFFICE HOURS

MON – WED – FRIDAY 09.00-12.30 / 13.30-17.00

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 08.00-12.30 / 13.30-18.00

ADDRESS     CONTACTS    (+39) 0365 83224

www.roccadanfo.eu