The end part of the ridge from the Sperone, or rather the natural hill where up to the twenties there were the Barracks of San Benigno, antiquely called Capo di Faro, presented itself as a long plain which ended on the sea.

Information anterior to 1100 brings testimony to the existence in the area of a church named San Paolo; in 1100 the hills were property of a certain Visdomini di Arcola di Lunigiana. In 1121 a church and a monastary were erected by the monks -Monaci Fruttuariensi di San Benigno Canavese- in romantic style named San Benigno Apostle of Burgundi. In 1319, during the war between the Guelphs and the Gibbelines, the strategic importance of the site was noted - it dominated the whole of the antique city, and the port and area of Sampierdarena. The structure was then involved in bellic episodes, and was left damaged. The complex was restructured in 1427, and was again damaged at the beginning of the 1500´s due to the gunfire directed upon the adjacent fort, "Briglia". Newly rebuilt, it underwent still more damge in 1633, with the construction of the Nuova Mura which passed it by.

In 1799, the monastary was closed due to the suppression of many monastaries: the antique structure, then left to itself, was robbed of its paintings, marble statues and furnishings (note). In 1818 the complex was occupied by the military, and in the courtyard, fire openings were placed.

The reason for which it was decided to level the monastary and construct the barracks goes back to the revolts of 1849. On the 5^th of April of that year, the Piemontese general Alfonso La Marmora, bombarded the city from San Benigno (occupied by the Savoy militia only the day before); once the revolt was repressed, and with the scope of stopping other revolts, he suggested the construction of a fortification in place of the old monastary. Work began around 1852, with the complete demolition of the anique coenobium, and ended in 1860 with the completion of the two large, identicle barracks, named Inferiore and Superiore San Benigno, each one capable of supporting 1276 soldiers.

The two barracks, then painted red, were composed of five floors. Between the two there was a difference in height of 10m (from this the distinction was made between Superiore and Inferiore). Towards the end of the 1880´s, in the large court-yard between the two barracks, a battery was placed, facing two fronts.

From a newspaper article we can read about how the gun practise was held: " ... every weekday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, the 14^th Artillary Reggiment, will excecute, weather permitting, practise with small cannons from the Battery of San Benigno against a target, placed on a steam boat, which will be on the sea... From the point of the Strega towards Cornigliano, at a distance not superior to 4,000 metres from the city. During the practise a red flag will be placed at the Battery of San Benigno, which will serve as a signal, so as to miss, as much as possible, that area..."

On Agust 12, 1925 it was decided to demolish the fortifications. Work began near the end of 1930; a large project foresaw the complete disembankment of San Benigno to permit continuity for the city towards the west, because in 1926 all those communities became part of the "Grande Genova" (the Grand Genoa). The farwell to the barracks was given with a quick ceremony, typical of the fascist regime, on the morning of June 22, 1930. At the end of the ceremony, at the feet of the Lanterna, a plaque was placed, offered by the association "A Compagna".

The flattening of the hill, and the consequent demolition of the two fortifications on it, was slowed because of the vastness of the opera, so much so that the remains were used to house anti-aircraft equipment, and from 1945 it was used for homeless families; up to a little more than thrity years ago, it was still possible to see part of the hill and the remains of the Barracks (publifoto). We can confirm that that project of sixty years ago, has in part failed: "after all, even if Sampierdarena, with 18 other ex-communities, entered to make part of Genoa i n 1926, a real fusion between them never really happened, and never will happen; The large plain obtained by the flattening of the hill, has been up to now not well used, for the means of topographic devolopment of the city and activities on the Port..." And we add that, with this foolishness, our old administrators finshed ruining that marvellous city that was Genoa.

Today of the old area of Capo di Faro and of the Barracks nothing is left. The commemorative plaque is now abandoned and inaccessable, still positioned under the Lanterna, but in a "Military Zone". In front of the access stairway to the Lanterna, a little further ahead from the plaque, one can discover a sculpture in marble; this could be the only reminent of the antique religious complex, probably absorbed into the Barracks, and miraculously saved from destruction by some pitying worker; today it is abandoned here, forgotten and inaccessable, a single and mute testimony of seven centuries of history (note 1).

 Other Images:

 Panorama at the end of the 1800´s

 Inside of the Barracks: Life scene

 San Benigno Barracks: Swearing-in of a recruit in 1925

 San Benigno barracks: demolition in 1934

 The remains of the barracks in the mid-thirties

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