The Fort of Gavi is a historical defensive fortress built by the Genoese on a pre-existing castle of medieval origin of which we have certain news from the twelfth century.
The real character of the fortress was achieved thanks to the intervention of the military engineer Vincenzo Maculano called the Fiurenzuolo, who in 1625, was commissioned by the Republic of Genoa to study the project in order to increase the security and the war power. The current configuration is that of a star-shaped polygon, characterized by six bastions that extend at acute angles joined together by curtains. Inside the polygon, two areas can be identified: the Male or High Fort, which encloses the original nucleus, and the Citadel or Low Fort, made up of the later buildings.
During the two world wars of the twentieth century, the fort was used to house prisoners of war.
The fortress can be visited in its various main areas: the internal and external courtyards, the watchtowers, the prison cells, the warehouses used to store provisions, the entrances to the fortress with defensive drawbridges. Educational rooms in which war relics are exhibited and a section with detailed descriptive and historical tables complete the museum itinerary.
Inside the fortress, which is part of the Castelli Aperti (Open Castles) circuit, historical re-enactments in costume, cycles of conferences, debates and photographic and pictorial exhibitions are periodically held.
