The Fort of Pozzarello, or more simply Fort Pozzarello, is a coastal fortification located in the municipality of Monte Argentario, on the homonymous hill that rises near the northern coastal stretch of the Argentario promontory.
The coastal defensive structure was built in the second half of the nineteenth century, and was the last fortification in chronological order to have been built in the area of the Argentario promontory. Designed in 1874, the work was completed only in 1888.
The fortification was built under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Italy, with the intent to protect the coast near Porto Santo Stefano, which according to the projects of the time had to become a large base of the Italian Navy. Moreover, the coast of the Argentario promontory was at the time considered the most vulnerable point in case of an enemy invasion from the sea, also due to its geographical position relatively close to Rome, which a few years before had become the new capital of the kingdom .
Once inaugurated, the fortification was home to various defense and offense exercises, in which the approach of the enemy ships that had to be hit by the cannons positioned at the defensive structure was simulated.
During the Second World War the anti-aircraft was set up in an attempt to defend the area from aerial bombardments. From the post-war period onwards, the fortification was in fact transformed into a large depot of arms and ammunition, which was definitively decommissioned in 1975. After the closure, the defensive structure was completely abandoned, going towards a rapid and inexorable degradation.
The Fort of Pozzarello is located on the summit of the homonymous hill, in a hidden and invisible position both from the sea and from the coastal road that leads to Porto Santo Stefano.
Built following the canons of the nineteenth-century Piedmontese military fortifications, the defensive structure develops with a trapezoidal plan, which is well appreciated from above, protected on the outside by deep ditches that follow the course of the curtain walls on each side. The fortification is characterized by the presence of a series of boxes, which were used during the exercises.
Access to the fortification is through a double round arch door that opens through the entire thickness of one of the four curtain walls, which are characterized by the rusticated coating on the outside. The fortification is characterized by a series of levels buried and hidden by the ridges of the hill, which would have been used as a safe shelter, when the fort was in operation, in case of serious danger brought by the attack and the advance of enemy troops .
