Description of the attraction
Fortezza del Annunziata, also known as Ridotta del Annunziata, is an ancient Ligurian fortress located in the vicinity of Ventimiglia in the province of Imperia. Together with other fortresses - Castel d'Appio and Forte San Paolo - it was part of the defensive system created around Ventimiglia during the reign of the Republic of Genoa and during the reign of Napoleon. In particular, Ridotta was built in the first decades of the 19th century - after the signing in 1815 of the Paris Peace Treaty, caused by the overthrow of Napoleon. In this treaty, at the request of the Austrian Empire, part of the compensation that the French state had to pay was provided to the Kingdom of Sardinia to strengthen the western borders of Piedmont and Liguria. In addition, the opening of a new coastal road leading to France (present-day Via Aurelia) prompted Austria to make new claims. Therefore, it was decided to build a fortified citadel at Ventimiglia, which was considered a strategic point, in order to control the passage to the north-west of Italy and the Padan plain.
Originally the building of Fortezza del Annunziata was used as the monastery of the Order of the Little Brothers and was known as the Convento del Annunziata. In 1831, Colonel Malaussen and Lieutenant Colonel Podesta were tasked with transforming the monastery building into casemates - Lieutenant Camillo Benso, Count Cavour, also took part in the project. The new fortress was connected by a powerful defensive wall and underground passages to the 13th century fort of San Paolo. However, already in 1883, Ventimiglia lost its status of a fortress, and a year later Ridotta was disarmed and transformed into an infantry barracks, and Fort San Paolo was completely demolished. Subsequently, Ridotta was abandoned, and after the Second World War it was transferred to the municipality of Ventimiglia, which, in turn, placed the fortress at the disposal of the Tourism and Leisure Council.
Since 1990, Fortezza del Annunziata has hosted the Municipal Archaeological Museum of Girolamo Rossi. The museum bears the name of the local polymath and discoverer of the ancient Roman ruins - the theater and fragments of residential buildings of the ancient Albintimilium. Six halls with a total area of 1200 sq.m. important archaeological finds are exhibited - terracotta figurines, one of the most interesting tombstones in Liguria from the 1st-4th centuries AD, a collection of sculptures by Thomas Hanbury, a collection of ceramics, artifacts from necropolises, etc.
