Fort Verle

Fort Verle (Italian: Forte Verle, German: Werk Verle) is one of seven forts built in the Lavarone-Folgaria group, a series of forts located near the municipalities of Lavarone and Folgaria in Northern Italy. These were a group of forts commissioned and built by the Austro-Hungarian military between 1880 and 1915. Like most forts in the Lavarone-Folgaria group, Verle was a relatively new fort and was one of the most up to date in the various fortifications surrounding Trento. Construction began on Oct. 22nd, 1908, and lasted until March 30th, 1913. The fort was built at an altitude of 1508m (5,000ft), and was in a very exposed position. It was also 7km from the Italian Forte Verena, but because Verena was 500m higher, Verle’s tower howitzers (T.H) couldn’t hit the fort. The neighboring “Fort Vezzena” (for it wasn’t really a fort, it was meant to observe) was also used as an observation post for Verle. The fort was built as what was called a “Fort of Unity” which meant that artillery and infantry were incorporated into one structure. The fort was built in an irregular square shape, with a trench going around only 2 of the walls.