Real Cittadella

The Real Cittadella was a star fort in Messina, Sicily. The Cittadella was built between 1680 and 1686 by the Spanish Empire, and it was considered to be one of the most important fortifications in the Mediterranean. Most of the fort was demolished in the 20th century, but some parts can still be seen.

History

Background and construction

The Real Cittadella was built by the Spanish Empire (who controlled the Kingdom of Sicily) between 1680 and 1686. It was built to defend the port of Messina, but it was also meant to establish a strong garrison in the city to prevent the population from revolting, as had happened a few years earlier in 1674.

The fort was designed by Carlos de Grunenbergh, the military engineer of the Viceroy of Sicily. It was built in the centre of the peninsula of San Raineri, and was cut off from the mainland by a moat. The extremity of the peninsula was occupied by the Forte del Santissimo Salvatore.

A neighborhood populated by 8000 people, a Benedictine monastery and several churches had to be demolished to make way for the construction of the Cittadella.

Cittadella

Cittadella is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is 1,461 metres (4,793 ft) in circumference with a diameter of around 450 metres (1,480 ft). There are four gates which roughly correspond the points of the compass.

The local football club is A.S. Cittadella.

Restoration of the fortified system

Cittadella was erected in 1220, at the time of the wars between the communes, by order of the city of Padua in order to build a fortified outpost that would defend its territory.

It was built in successive stages in a polygonal shape on orthogonal axes through the construction of 32 large and small towers, with the formation of a protective moat and with four drawbridges next to the four entrance gates.

Its walls, 14 to 16 metres (46 to 52 ft) tall, were built with the "box masonry": two parallel walls filled with a sturdy core of stones and hot slaked lime totaling a thickness of about 2.10 metres (6.9 ft).

Cittadella (Gozo)

The Cittadella (Maltese: Iċ-Ċittadella), also known as the Citadel, is a small fortified city and citadel which lies in the heart of Victoria on the island of Gozo, Malta. The area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, and in the Medieval era it was known as the Gran Castello. The Cittadella has been on Malta's tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998.

History

Antiquity

Archaeological remains show that the area presently occupied by the Cittadella was first inhabited during the Bronze Age. The settlement was further developed by the Phoenicians, and during the Roman era, it became the acropolis of a city known as Glauconis Civitas.

Medieval period and Hospitaller rule

During the Medieval period, the settlement was transformed into a castle, which became known as the Gran Castello. Over time, the Cittadella became too small for the growing population, and the suburb of Rabat developed around the southern part of the walled citadel. In the fifteenth century, during the rule of the Crown of Aragon, the city's fortifications were strengthened. The fortifications which surround the town mainly served to protect the village communities from foraging corsairs who raided the Maltese islands in order to take slaves.

Cittadella (disambiguation)

Cittadella is the Italian word for Citadel. It may refer to:

Fortifications

Other

See also