The Corbin Fortress is a typical Italian military fortress high in the mountains, an important defensive line in the Vicentine Prealps during the First World War 1915-1918. The military fort of Punta Corbin is located on the Seven Municipalities Plateau, not far from the municipality of Roana, in the Treschè Conca area.

After the war the fort was abandoned, and despite the limited damage from heavy Austrian bombs, there was a defeat. In fact, to reduce it into a pile of rubble we thought of the perspicacious passers-by who stole every type of iron introduced into the cement. At this point the central state put it up for sale, and in 1942 it was purchased by Emilio Panozzo, a farmer from the area, who thus transformed it into a museum.

It was built in 1906, on a spur of rock extended over the Astico Valley, with the aim of becoming one of the most powerful fortifications on the plateau, and thus defending the Austro-Hungarian advances. But in reality its role in the conflict was quite secondary, in fact, a few months after the start of the war it was stripped of cannons and found to be extremely fragile and limited.

During the Strafexpedition (a punitive expedition) in 1916, the fort was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian army, and they remained there for several months, during the whole bloody battle against the Grenadiers of Sardinia, on nearby Cengio Mount.

At the end of the battle the fort returned to the hands of the Italian army, but due to the damage it presented, and due to the displacement of the front, the Corbin fort became an observation post towards Mount Cimone, occupied by the Austrians until 1918. Finished war this military fortress was used for a few years by the Italian army as a barracks for training, only to be definitively abandoned in the late 1920s.

Thanks to the military road, today you can reach Corbin Fortress by car from the nearby town of Treschè Conca, where you will find directions to reach it. In addition to the pleasant visit to the fortress, do not miss the Military Historical Museum, an increasingly popular destination also for school groups, where we can find original finds, period photographs and various documents recovered over the years thanks to the many donations and research.

• Info Corbin Fortress
• Location: Treschè Conca  - Vicenza
• Address: via Granatieri del Cengio 1
• Telephone: 349 2685543
• Opening time:
• Saturday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
• Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm