[View of Forte Belvedere from the outside]

 Forte Belvedere

Known as one of the largest and most well preserved Austro-Hungarian fortresses used during WW1, Forte Belvedere-Gschwent offered us great insight into both the living and fighting conditions. 

[Canon outside of the fort, not original]

I was kind of sad to find out that the original canon domes no longer existed. We were taught that in 1940 a dismantlement of the fortress began. In particular, the armed domes were removed, the first layer of beams was taken from the covering and the metal cladding of the roof was taken away for steel production elsewheere. However, after World War II, the fort became property of a private party who attempted to restore it. Some of this is his work and I’m grateful for the attempt as it’s clear he understood the importance of historical preservation.

 [Hallway inside the fort]

It’s a surreal experience really – walking down long dark, cold, wet hallways and knowing that this was the life of over 200 soldiers day in and out for years. What a miserable experience. Although no war, no part of war is favorable, this is no place fit for living.

[View of the valley below from inside the fort]

To me, this view was everything. This fort was built overhanging the Astico valley on purpose as at the time, it was the divison between the Italian Kingdom and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This area was a lookout point, equipped with a telephone and a tube in the ceiling to shoot a flare off from. Beng able to defend this valley or not would prove to be monumental to how the war would go.