Description of the attraction
The Rocca di Albornos fortress in Urbino is often called simply La Fortezza by the locals. The imposing walled building overlooking the city from the top of the Pian del Monte hill was built in the second half of the 14th century under the direction of Cardinal Anglico Grimoard to better control the city. In the same century, it was strengthened by another cardinal - Egidio Alvarez de Albornos, whose name the fortress bears to this day. It was this papal legate who was responsible for the transformation of most of the territories of the Marche, which were under the jurisdiction of the papal suzerainty.
Cardinal Albornoz decided that the old fortress, built during the reign of the dukes of Montefeltro, did not meet the requirements of the time and its goals, and therefore began to seriously re-equip it. However, in 1375, during the siege of Urbino, led by Antonio da Montefeltro, who took advantage of the popular unrest and again took possession of the city, the building of the fortress was significantly damaged. In the centuries that followed, La Fortezza was attacked more than once, partially destroyed and rebuilt. All these events changed the original structure of the fortress, and today it is a square structure with sheer walls, semicircular towers and ramparts. At the beginning of the 16th century, La Fortezza became the northern outpost of the new defensive walls of Urbino, to which it was added by the architect Giovanni Battista Comandino. And in 1799, when the fortress was occupied by French troops, its next reconstruction was carried out.
In 2010, within the walls of La Fortezza, the 15th century Weapons Museum was opened. Tourists are attracted here not only by the ruins of ancient defensive fortifications and museum expositions, but also by breathtaking views from the hill and a vast park laid out around the fortress.
