 |
The presence of fortifications set in the land around
Mestre, well camouflaged and almost invisible as far as some hundreds metres away, has
always been ignored by the greater part of the inhabitants and the farmers of the
surrounding countryside. Probably the mysterious halo which always surrounds military
works and the difficulty in approaching the soldiers who garrisoned it, had almost removed
from people’s memory those areas of land which only nowadays have been given back.The
presence of fortifications set in the land around Mestre, well camouflaged and almost
invisible as far as some hundreds metres away, has always been ignored by the greater part
of the inhabitants and the farmers of the surrounding countryside. Probably the mysterious
halo which always surrounds military works and the difficulty in approaching the soldiers
who garrisoned it, had almost removed from people’s memory those areas of land which
only nowadays have been given back  Fort Carpenedo was built at the end of the 19th century
(1890-1892), with twin forts in Gazzera and Tron. With Forte Marghera they formed the Entrenched Field of Mestre, destined to defend
Venice and its harbour; a defensive array which through the construction of other six
forts in the first years of the 20th century included altogether 12 fortresses,
all drawn up towards the land and distributed radially around the older Fort Marghera. The
aim of Fort Marghera was to defend the north-western sector, to control the railway from
Trieste to Terraglio, the road which still now leads to Treviso. The present appearance of
the fort, very luxurious even inside, must force us to use our imagination: this was not
in fact its original appearance, on the contrary it had to appear as a simple entirely
barren relief, hardly perceptible on the horizon in order to be the less visible to
possible aggressors. It owes its present state to its transformation into a munitions
deposit and as a consequence to the need for greater camouflage, especially for
observations from the above |
 |
| From Venezia, S.S.11 (ca.
8 km) From San Donà di Piave, S.S.14 towards Venezia (ca. 34 km) |