The first news about defensive operas in this area go back to 1319, when the Guelphs built an edifice with a castle with "walls and moats". In 1530 this, ruined by the years, was rebuilt with a few modifications. In 1633, with the contruction of the Nuova Mura (New Walls), it was thought to demolish it, but instead part of it was conserved, and used as a deposit for gunpowder and a barrack for a small group of soldiers and guards. Unfortunatly the exact consistancy of those old structures is unknown. The Castellaccio of the 1700´s instead, was formed by two barracks in parrallel, with a wooden floor, sleeping quarters, kitchens and deposits against the enclosure wall of a large gunpowder storage area. In the meridional part of the fort the remains of the old castle are still present, reduced to a few walls or simply the foundations.

The major part of the changes took place after the annexation to the Sardinian Kingdom. In 1818 a study to renew the fortification of the 1700´s was presented. The fortification was completly demolished and rebuilt, in the same place, in the same year that the project was initiated. The works were interrupted in 1827, but they were then picked up again following another design. The walls which had already been built were not demolished. In the internal area of the complex, there is a testimony of the little fort that was never finished. The new Castellaccio was an autonomous fort, having the double-role of protecting the city and calming any eventual revolts of the people. The barracks are composed of two floors, and an underground, inside which, one can find two furnishers with 320 rations in each.

The Specola tower (an anomylous tower in red brick), is visible from almost any place in the city. It was initiated on the rocky cliff where, until 1509, death sentences were carried out (which before then, were always carried out near the Lanterna). The forks were composed of four pillasters in rock that held a transversal axis, from which hung chains which were used to hang the corpses of the condemned. The Specola was constructed between 1817 and 1825 as an integration of the complex "Castellaccio" (made up of the fort and the tower). Between 1830 and 1836, the two operas were encircled intentionally by one single chain of fortifications, with a common access.

The inside of the small towers is on two floors, plus an underground with a cistern. The main structure is composed of six large pillars; a service staircase is dug into one of these. The large point that is on the roof was built between 1911 and 1914 by the "Istituto Idrografico della Marina", to host a meteorologic and aereologic observatory and its personell. The tower was abandoned in 1969, and was later used as a depository. Today it is used as an archive.

From May 31, 1875 to June 1940, a cannon shot was fired at midday from a casemate on angle of the outer walls. The electrical contact was given by a pendulum, still conserved in working order, placed on the inside of the San Giorgio Fort, headquarters of the "Istituto Idrografico".

During the revolt of 1849, the Pedmontese soldiers were barracaded inside the complex: isolated without orders, they handed over the fort to the revolters. The revolters, blocked inside, tried to slow the progress of the troops of General La Maramora, shooting the cannons continuosly against San Benigno and the Palazzo Doria occupied by the brave. But the Piedmontese spread everywhere, and many abandoned the fort by climbing over the walls. They gave up on the 10^th of April and regave the complex to the authorities. During the First World War, in the tower Austrian prisoners were kept. Already in 1929 the site was of a radio telegraph station. Today it is uninhabited (in this zone there are many strange mysteries), even if in a good state of conservation, it is utilised as a magazine by the "Istituto Idrgrafico" and is used as a meeting place for the "Club Castellaccio anni ´30". The barracks on the Val Bisagno are instead completely abandoned.

 Other Images:

  Specola Tower (Ironically indicated Castellaccio) from Mura delle Chiappe in 1907.

  Panorama towards the West from the terrace of the Specola Tower.

  Fort Castellaccio: internal court of the barracks.

  Castellaccio: inside of the barracks on the Val Bisagno.

  Castellaccio: access to the barracks on the Val Bisagno.

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