Built to enhance and adapt to the use of artillery the pre-existing castle, now preserved in a fourteenth-century style internally, the Bene Vagienna fort, a French stronghold during the wars of Italy, is thanks to the initiative of the local lord Gian Ludovico Costa. The sources suggest that it was erected in 1538 on a project by Girolamo Marini from Bologna, and the structures which were as a whole well preserved, confirm the work’s precocity. It was one of the first examples of fully "modern" fortification in the subalpine area. On the other hand, a military engineer from Vicenza serving France in the years 1551-1559, Francesco Orologi, included a drawing in his Brief reasons to fortify showing the complex not only as it already existed, but in styles that completely overlap with those of today.
It is probable that the polygonal curtain with angular bastions with recessed sides which defended the inhabited area, must indeed be owed to Orologi. In fact, it is represented in his drawing with a very schematic style and the remains (the two Eastern bastions and sections of the walls that connected them) make it possible to understand an indication of a design phase not yet fully matured, which is, to a large extent, different from what survives.
Corso Garibaldi (44°32'39"N - 7°50'9"E)
Accessible by car, accessible on request, the outside is accessible
