The Battle of Rivoli was one of the decisive battles fought by French troops of the Army of Italy, under the command of General Napoleon Bonaparte, against the Austrian army, during the First Italian Campaign, in the course of the First Coalition War, when revolutionary France waged war against most of the traditionalist European states.
In January 1797, the young general Napoleon Bonaparte routed Austrian forces on the banks of the Adige River, beginning his rise in human history.
The site of the event was Rivoli Veronese, a small town a few kilometers from Affi, the nearest highway exit to the town of Garda.
Due to its strategic location on the important communication route between Italy and Austria, this area is home to several military forts erected by the Austrians in the mid-1800s, including the well-preserved and occasionally visitable Fort Rivoli or Wohlgemuth.
Il Forte Rivoli (Wohlgemuth)
Of great scenic impact, the Rivoli fort stands on a rocky rise called Mount Castello, the site of an ancient Scaligera fortification built to strategically control the underlying Chiusa di Ceraino (of Rivoli once upon a time), a thousand-year-old gateway to the Po Valley.
Built by the Austrian army in the immediate vicinity of Rivoli, between 1853 and 1854, and located high above the Adige River, it protected the roads from Affi passing through Rivoli that connected Lake Garda to the Adige River, and guarded the main route of communication with northern Europe, which had always been the scene of countless historical events and formidable wartime events.
The main body of the Habsburg fort was initially composed in the form of a two-story cylindrical tower. It was equipped with 17 cannons. After the Italian conquest, the building was expanded from 1881 to 1884 with the fortification of the part facing north.
The complex is distinguished by the remarkable technical quality of construction, evidenced by the extensive wall complex built with local white limestone as well as by the special interior vaulted structures of complex geometry made of brick material.
In addition to soaking in the history and beauty of the landscape, this area lends well to a hike (Trail of the Forts https://tinyurl.com/bdhbbktp) a bike ride on the bike path along the Adige River (bike path of the forts https://tinyurl.com/ymksxd9f) , or to savor the tasty local wine (Valdadige).
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