The fort gets its name from the Mountain Diamante (publifoto), on which it was built. According to some testimonies, it is supposed that once, on the cliffs there was a Bastita, which some define as that of Pino. Its scope was to control the valleys of Bisagno and Polcevera, which were potential access roads for attacking troops, and it was also the way of communicating between the two valleys. We don´t know when that old fort was actually destroyed, but it is certain that it was after 1507. In 1747, the top of the hill was occupied by a small observatory built by the Genoese. Abandoned, it was occupied by the Austrians the night of the 12^th of April. The first project of the fort, dated August 1747 is signed by Sicre. It was unable to be excecuted because it wasn´t made for the top of a mountain, but for a flat surface. It was modified but the workers were interuppted with the peace of Aquisgrana.

In 1756 the fort was financed by the Durazzo family with a donation of 50,000 liras. The works began in the summer of the same year. On June 17, 1758 the construction was not yet finished, as confermed by an anonymous person, instead according to the major part of the experts, the building was finished the same year. It´s more plausable that the final work was finished between 1758 and 1796, because it is impossible that in only two years, 1756 to 1758, the fort had reached its full size and productivity. On September 13, 1758, by decision of the Governo della Repubblica (Government of the Republic), a tablet was placed (today unfortunately gone missing) at the entrance of the fort, to commemorate the donation given by the Durazzo family.

During the siege of 1800 the fort was in the hands of the 41^st Brigata Francese, commanded by Captain Bertrand. On the 30^th of April the austrians arrived at the Due Fratelli under the command of the Lieutenant General, The count of the Hohenzollern. The cannons of the fort shot against the enemy; the people of Campi, Camporsella, Torazza and Trensasco were damaged by the shots, because they were sites and lodgings of the enemy troops. Many families still have cannon balls from that bombardment. That same night, the Austrian commander tried to convince Bertrand to give up, which he didn´t.

General Soult, from the Sperone, around 16:00 fought the winning attack against the Austrians at the Due Fratelli.

The fort´s completion and transformation were done after 1814, under the direction of the Corpo Reale of the Genio Sardo. The primitive roof of the barracks was in slate and layered. With the annexation there was the transformation of the cover to a terrace. With the modifications to the roof, those parastas that characterise the barracks were inserted on the principle fornt and on the northern side. To reach the terrace, a tower with an internal staircase was built.

During the revolts of 1849, the fort was taken over by volunteers which shot only a few cannon shots to the Piedmontese troops, which were out of range. The last historic episode of a certain relevence, goes back to June 29, 1857, when a group of Mazzinian followers, with a seige, during the night managed to take possession of the fort, but they abandoned it right away because the revolt in the entire city failed.

At the end of the 1800´s, it was projected to demolish the barracks to construct a battery for Howitzers. Fortunatly the proposal was not accepted. The complex was abandoned definately in 1914.

The entrance sitiuated on the ground floor at the base of the barracks was provided with a drawbridge. The external line follows and defends the covered walkway. Above the entrance, in one of the two rooms of the ground floor, one can still see the writings in use from the 1800´s. The pavement of the terrace which now is reduced to a field was originally in wooden tiles. The trapdoors were originally protected by openable iron grates. A great part of the metallic structure was taken at the end of the last war.

 Other Images:

 Fort Diamante: room on the top floor.

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