A long line from the Sperone and the Due Frattelli is made up uf barely noticable furrows, which are developed for hundreds of metres following a curious zig zag pattern; these were dug by the Genoese and the Austrians in 1747 and represent one of the only (and confusing) testimonies of the camp fortifications: defensive trenches from which many of our forts derive. Starting from the Sperone, the most important, built with gabions, was placed where today, there is Fort Puin (publifoto).

Already, in 1806, the French had already decided upon the construction of the fortification and the Due Fratelli, with the scope of bettering the defense on the dorsal from the Sperone and the Diamante. The continued research of archival documents and designs of the project and the comparison betwen them, allows us to affirm that the construction of the Due Fratei and the Puin, is opera of the Piedmontese, which were without a doubt inspired by the already cited French "model towers" (see the Towers of the 1800´s page). The works were started only in 1815 by orders of the Provisional Government. In fort Puin, the tower was the first to be begun. The bastionated line was interspersed and made in a second time and was built in two phases (1818 and 1826). In 1830 the tower could be said to have been completed. This was abandoned in the last decade of the 1800´s, and "expelled" from the military lists in 1908. In 1924 it appears in the list of monumental buildings. In 1963 it was taken and restored by Professor Fausto Parodi (publifoto), an imaginative painter (publifoto) which lived there (publifoto) for about fifteen years. Today, the structure, is subject to guided visits, every second Sunday from March to November. These are organised by the Comune di Genova - Servizio Giardini e Foreste, and in parte by the co-operative Dafne.

Once one goes up the access road, one passes a drawbridge, which was put into the Cinta (defense line). The embrasure of the ground floor facing the back of the Tower was cemented in 1820, with the construction of the bastion line; traces are only visible from the external side. Their position confirms that the construction of the Cinta came after the initial works of the tower.

Up to a few years ago, on the wall of the tower, there was a tablet, placed there by Professor Parodi honoured the wounding of Foscolo which took place in 1800, while he fought in the French army. This is without a doubt false; actually in 1800 the Puin didn´t exist, and so it is evident that the tablet was placed there by the owner to add a picturesque view of the fortification. According to some experts, Foscolo was wounded two times: the first, in a leg, near the Due Fratelli, and the second, a few days later, during a retreat at Coronata.

As far as the name of the fortification goes, it is ascertained that this derives from "Ridotta dei pani" (which, said correctly is "Baracca dei Pani), this word appears only in the description of Genoa in part of an anonymous person in 1818. In reality, the fort owes its name to the hut below, called Puin (this term, in Genoese dialect means "Padrino" [Father] - the construction was also nominated Puino, maybe to Italinise a dialect name - in the old books one can also read that this name "... derives from the protection that this fort can give to the Due Fratelli ..." So, the exact definition of the name could be "Barocca del Padrino", probably referring to its owner, and the fort should have taken its just name from thís last.)

 Other Images:

 Aereal photo of Fort Puin (publifoto)

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