Rocca of Solferino was built in 1022 on the top of the hill overlooking the town in the province of Mantua.
Already a natural place of defense being on the hilltop of over 200 meters, there are traces of the first military settlements of the ninth century on some buildings of the Roman era.
23 meters high, it acquired strategic value over time for its geographical position that earned it the nickname of “The Spy of Italy” in the Risorgimento, being a sighting point on the border.
It was the scene of the bloody Battle of Solferino and San Martino on 24 June 1859 during which the Franco-Piedmontese and Austrian armies faced each other.
The fortress, after a period of abandonment, underwent major restorations in 1870.
Converted into a museum, on the first floor and along the walls leading to the terrace there are memorabilia, paintings and numerous weapons recovered from the battlefields of the Second Italian War of Independence.
The room that leads to the panoramic terrace is called the “Hall of the Sovereigns” because on its walls hang two paintings depicting Vittorio Emanuele II and Napoleon III, the two monarchs who commanded the Franco-Piedmontese army.
From the top of the Rocca, it is possible to admire the panorama of the Mantuan countryside and Lake Garda.
