Forte Larino
Lardaro, Italy · built 1860
Fort Larino is an early Austro-Hungarian fort built in the Chiesa (Church) Valley, just south of Lardaro in Trentino, Italy. Larino was built between 1860-62, at an altitude of 2,310ft. The fort is built out of chiselled granite on top of a mountain, which made it more visible, and thus more vulnerable to artillery. The fort is quite large at 9,690 sq ft, and so was a large target for artillery. Larino's crew was 3 officers and 122 enlisted men. Unlike newer forts, Larino's main armament was mounted in casemates instead of armoured turrets. To make up for the ease to hit, Larino had 8.25ft of clay on top to cushion the fort against artillery blasts. Larino is surrounded by a ditch. The armament was four 15cm guns and four 9cm field guns.
Fort data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).