The Fratello Maggiore (Big Brother) was architectually larger and formed by only one tower. Unfortunatly this fort no longer exists. In its place, there is now a field. In 1806, in a project that was never begun, it was thought to build a small barrack in this place. The construction of the fort was begun in 1815 by the Piemontese and finished after about ten years.

The entrance was protected by a small moat, and a drawbridge facing east, towards the Bisagno valley. The ground floor was composed of a central corridor, off of which there were two rooms: at the end of the corridor there was the stairway leading to the upper floor ; towards the outside there were only embrasures. Underground, there were three small rooms accessable by a trap door.

On the first floor, composed of two large, barrel-shaped rooms, there were 9 large cannon holes covered with grates. To access the terrace there was another staircase, somewhat steep, placed in the middle of the building. The entrance to the room was protected by a small casemate. The walls at the base were 2 meters and 20 centimeters thick and were inclined with a very strong scarp. Halfway up there were some pilasters which framed the cannons. Facing the terrace were the trapdoors, protected by openable grates. This fort had a garrison of 20 soldiers.

In 1898 it had already been abandoned. In 1929 it was certainly still intact. In August, 1932, only the ground floor of the construction remained. The certainty of this date, clearly shows that the information about the tower being demolished for military reasons in 1936, or that it was demolished by Germans in 1944 is false. This deepens the mystery as to why the tower was demolished in a period of military peace. In Italy, after World War I, in 1927, it was talked about anti-aircraift defense. In that year inside some antuique fortifications (for example San Martino) some batteries had already been placed. In 1930 the Militia for arial defence was instituted-afterwards it was nominated DICAT (Difesa Contraerea Territoriale - Territorial Anti-Aircraft Defense).

Demolition of the Fratello Maggiore was begun in order to install an anti-aircraft battery between 1930-32. What happened afterwards, for lack of documentation, can only be hypothesised: 1) the work was immediately interrupted: someone in the higher military circles could have changed his mind or more simply, seeing as the structure was a monumental building, the Sopraintendenza could have interviened and stopped the work. Until 1937 only the ground floor remained of the fort. That same year, on the eve of the conflict, the regime decided to completely demolish what little was left to place the four gun emplacements for the anti-aircraft equipment. 2) the work continued until the completion of the new battery, already active in the thirties, composed of four postations (used by the Germans in 1943) of which there are still some traces.

Today, only the cistern (completely covered by garbage) and the rooms, half-buried and hard to access, remain of the fort; inside these there are scarse testimonies of the little fort. The remains of the construction made up of stone and cement spread accross the area were part of the anti-aircraft equipment. Upon closely examining the surrounding terrain, hidden by vegetation, one can still note a part of the original footing. The material taken from the demolition was reused to build four batteries and some buildings for the garrison.

 Other Images

 The ridge of the Due Fratelli in a rare photo from the end of the 1800s: on the right is Fratello Maggiore.

 The esplanade of the Fratello Maggiore with the remains of the anti-aricraft batteries.

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