In April 1747, the hills where the Due Fratelli stand now, were encircled by a chain of trenches.

In 1780 it was Codeviola who hypothesized changing the Due Fratelli into a permanent construction, but the idea was not taken into consideration. The hills, were already named Due Fratelli, even before the forts were built. The origin of the name regards the altitude and the aspect of the two fortifications. The Fratello Maggiore (Big Brother) was architectually larger and formed by only one tower, and it was much higher than the Fratello Minore (smaller Brother).

Of the Due Fratelli, the one still intact, on Mount Spino (GeF) is the Minore. Its construction, initiated towards the end of 1815, was subject to continuos project changes. After 1830, and after having completed the tower, the Genio Militare Sabaudo modified the project, adding a bastionated wall on the eastern and southern sides. Contemporarily the entrance was moved to the south and to the level of the original first floor; which as a consequence modified the internal rooms.

The fixed troops were composed of twelve men. The access to the interior of the wall, was by a drawbridge, placed there, presumabley at the end of the ´20´s. This worked exactly as the one in Fort Sperone. From here, a ramp, originally cobbled, goes to the entrance of the tower. Four embrasures, protected originally by openable grates, denounce their original function.

The embrasures on the outside are much higher in respect to the ground floor: a platform, probably in wood, ran along the side of the wall to obtain, according to what was needed, a firing line. The first floor was sustained by wooden supports, which has fallen with time; one can still see the tie-boards which sustained it. At the end of the 1800´s, the fortification had most likely already been abandoned. During the last war, the locale was used to house the "Guardia Batteria" of the anti-airfcraft of the Fratello Maggiore. On the ground floor one can still note the remains of the two cannons. Today the internal structure has fallen into a bad state.

 Other Images:

 An aereal photograph of the Fratello Minore (publifoto)

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