Città Fortificata di Palmanova

The construction of the fortress of Palma was decided following the loss of the important stronghold of Gradisca, on 7 October 1593, on the 22nd anniversary of the battle of Lepanto. On that day, in nearby Castle Strassoldo, Venetian senators Marc’Antonio Barbaro, Jacopo Foscarini, Zaccaria Contarini, Marino Grimani and Leonardo Donà, assisted by elderly Giulio Savorgnan, signed the official document ordering the erection of a new Venetian citadel, protecting the Republic from Turkish and Austrian assaults. Built to a nonagonal plan, surrounded by massive bastions and wide moats, as well as a military fortress Palma is the realization of a Renaissance “ideal city”. Furnished with 9 rounded salients (Grimani, Savorgnan, Foscarini, Villachiara, Contarini, Garzoni, Monte, Donato e Barbaro), it can be accessed by three gates (Aquileia, Udine e Cividale) designed by Antonio Scamozzi between 1598 and 1605. It was re-christened Palma la Nuova by Napoleon.