Fort Fuentes, it, Forte di Fuentes, italic=no, is a former military

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

on the hill of Montecchio or Monteggiolo near

Colico Colico ( Comasque: or ; la, Colicum) is a city in the province of Lecco, Lombardy, Italy. It is situated on the northern arm of Lake Como, where the river Adda enters the lake. Colico is the most important city in the northern part of Lake ...

, in the

province of Lecco The Province of Lecco ( it, provincia di Lecco; Lecchese: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco. As of 2017, the province had a population of 337,211 on a surface of divided into 85 ''comuni'' (mun ...

, Lombardy, northern Italy. It was built by the Spanish governor of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, 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 Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Toda ...

, the

Valchiavenna The Valchiavenna is an alpine valley in the province of Sondrio, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It lies to the north of Lake Como, and is traversed by the rivers Mera and Liro. It can be divided into three parts which branch from the confl ...

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 Sorico ( Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northeast of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,188 and an area of .All demo ...

, the Torretta del Passo, the Fortino d'Adda, the Torrino di Borgofrancone, the Torretta di

Curcio Curcio is a part of the mainland of Colico, Lombardy, northern Italy. The name Curcio is first mentioned in a slab dated 1585, which can still be seen as a part of the public washing fountain of the town. The first church was built in 1842 and de ...

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 Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

, 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 Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. 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.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1612 17th-century fortifications Colico Fuentes Buildings and structures in Lombardy 1612 establishments in Italy