Brisighella Fortress
Brisighella Fortress stands on one of the three gypsum pinnacles overlooking the village.
The complex of this fortress consists of the “Venetian Tower” (16th century) and the ancient “Torricino”, which dates back to 1300, built at the behest of the Manfredi family of Faenza. Today, it has been brought back to new splendor through continuous and qualified restorations. It is a valuable example of medieval military art.
Inside the Fortress
Since May 2016, it has housed the “Man and Gypsum Museum”, a museum itinerary that crosses the long history of humankind relationship with this territory and with the mineral that characterizes it.
A stairway is the access to Torre Manfrediana della Rocca for a walk into history. Starting from the first visitors of Gypsum Vein caves in the Protostoric age with funerary purposes and sacred rites. Then a stop in Roman age with the extraction of precious lapis specularis, the glass stone. To finish to into the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, that sqw the gypsum ridges becoming a key element in the construction of fortresses and castles.
The upper room of the Torre Manfrediana displays the archaeological findings from Gypsum Vein with artifacts from the Bandits Cave from the pre/protohistoric age. The materials of the Roman house of Carnè, from the quarry of Lucerne, the first quarry of lapis specularis identified in Italy, represent the Roman age. Materials found in the castle of Rontana are from the Middle Ages. In addition, a video set up in the hall shows, through an interesting film reconstruction what the extraction of the Lapis Specularis consisted of. It is aided by the dim light of the lamp.
The Venetian Tower (on the left) is entirely dedicated to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It explains the use of the rooms visited in the exhibition through the aid of educational panels, focusing on Fortress history. The path that winds through the Venetian tower culminates in the upper area, where the “talking stones” explain the fortresses and castles of the territory. Finally, at the end of the inner courtyard, one can visit the gunboat and deepen their knowledge of the defensive functions of the fortified works.
