Forte di Santa Tecla

Forte di Santa Tecla stands at Sanremo's old port. Its eighteenth-century bastions preserve a fortress built by the Republic of Genoa that later became barracks, a prison and a cultural monument.

Why it matters

The fort followed Genoa's suppression of the Sanremo uprising of 1753. Its purpose included controlling the town, placing the building within the political relationship between the republic and a coastal community rather than treating it solely as protection against outside attack.

What to notice

The triangular plan combines bastions with spaces for a garrison and artillery. A sixteenth-century round tower was incorporated into the later works. Barrack rooms, a chapel, cisterns and powder storage reveal the different functions compressed within the fortified enclosure.

Context and history

Construction began in 1755 under a project associated with Giacomo De Sicre and Alberto Medoni. The fort became a barracks after 1815 and a judicial prison in 1864. Prison use ended in 1997; subsequent conservation and adaptation introduced a public cultural role to the former military complex.