During the 19th century, the city of Trento was transformed into a vast fortress, surrounded by a belt of forts. The territory was divided into sectors: from 1914 the defensive system was organized into seven sectors. An additional fortified line enclosed the immediate surroundings of the city centre. Other outer field defenses protected the fortress, including the Tenna barrier in the Valsugana, with Fort Colle delle Benne (or San Biagio) and Fort Tenna.
At the outbreak of the war, the 19th-century fortifications were outdated and inadequate to face a possible attack: some were therefore disarmed and replaced by field positions nearby, while others were demolished. Between 1914 and 1916, an impressive entrenched camp of high resistance—consisting of trenches, underground batteries, and concrete casemates—enclosed the city. It was a massive economic and organizational effort that employed thousands of militarized workers and prisoners of war.
No military operations took place in Trento during the conflict, and by 1916 fortification works were halted, with most of the armaments moved to the front. This vast defensive system has been largely destroyed: many structures were dismantled, others overgrown by vegetation or damaged by time; yet some remain visible, bearing witness to what was once a great fortress.
On the Trails of the Fortress of Trento
The Sectors of the Fortress
In German and on historical maps, the sectors were referred to as “Bezirk”.
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Trentino and the First World War
The First World War broke out on July 28, 1914, with the declaration of war by the Austro-Hungarian Empire against Serbia. A few days later, on July 31, Austria-Hungary called to arms all men between the ages of 21 and 42; as the war went on, the age range widened to include men from 18 to 50. From Trentino—then part of the province of Tyrol—around 55,000 men were sent to fight in the imperial army.
With Italy’s entry into the war on May 24, 1915, the Trentino region, which had been gradually fortified since the mid-19th century, became a theatre of military operations.
The civilian population of southern Trentino and of the cities of Rovereto and Trento was evacuated. Nearly 110,000 people from Trentino were forced to abandon their homes: 75,000 were transferred to Upper and Lower Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia, where they were housed either with local families or in refugee camps; another 35,000 were taken to Italy during the conflict.
Seven hundred men from Trentino chose to fight in the uniform of the Kingdom of Italy. Three of them—Cesare Battisti, Fabio Filzi, and Damiano Chiesa—were captured during the war and executed for high treason in the Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento.
Italian troops entered Trento on November 3, 1918; the following day, the armistice was signed, opening a new chapter in Trentino’s history.
