SAN TERENZO - LERICI, Lerici Fortress - Ai Voice

The Fortress of Lerici is one of the best-preserved examples of military architecture in Liguria. Located in a commanding position on the eastern promontory of the Gulf of La Spezia, it was built beginning in the 12th century and later expanded.
Its history is closely tied to the political and military events of the region, which for centuries was contested between the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa.

The original construction dates back to 1152, when the Pisans controlled Lerici and began building the first defensive structure. However, in 1241, Genoa took possession of the village and the fortress, initiating a series of expansions that radically transformed the complex.
Architecturally, the structure is distinguished by its pentagonal keep, built in the first half of the 13th century and connected to massive walls and bastions that reinforced its strength. During the 15th and 16th centuries, new defensive works were added — notably a bastioned enclosure — to adapt the fortress to evolving siege techniques and the introduction of firearms. The combination of these successive modifications makes the fortress a true textbook of layered military architecture, in which centuries of adaptation can still be read in its stones....