SIEGE OF TURIN 1706 - THE HILL DEFENCES

 One of the least studied aspects of the 1706 Siege of Turin concerns the hilltop defences established to protect Monte dei Cappuccini, a small hill—still clearly visible today—which overlooks the River Po below and controlled access to the city from the riverside.

Yet, from the perspective of historical and archaeological research, this is precisely the area that may offer the greatest rewards. The natural configuration of the terrain has inevitably remained largely unchanged, and several sections of the original defensive works still survive, although they are now concealed and difficult to identify.

This research has also led me to discover and appreciate a part of my own city, close to where I live, which I had nevertheless never previously explored.

Therefore began with the most precise and least stylised map available for reconstructing the hilltop defences: Alessandro Luigi Emanuelle’s 1708 Plan of the City and Citadel of Turin, produced only two years after the siege. Although this map naturally contains a number of inconsistencies, it nevertheless provides the best surviving representation of the defensive works on the hills.

From this map, I was able to reconstruct my own version, reproduced here, as well as to identify the names of the original farmsteads in the area.

1) Fort of Villa Genero

2) Monte dei Capuccini

3) Borgo di Po

4) Vigna della Marchesa (today: Villa della Regina)

5) Today: Via Villa della Regina

6) Val Salice

However, after producing this first map, I attempted to transpose it onto a modern map of Turin. In fact, the satellite view made it possible, to some extent, to refine the actual layout of the fortifications, as shown in the map below.

This is the first map ever produced that makes it possible to see today what existed here 320 years ago.

 here with the numbers is red in order to understand the map above.

However, my research eventually led me to go out “into the field” in search of physical evidence. I therefore visited Villa Genero, now a beautiful public park that I had never previously taken into consideration. I climbed to the top, where I found what is still known today as the Fortino, although it is in very poor condition. I would very much like to see it restored and returned to its former splendour.

Over time, this small fort was altered and transformed into a kind of Art Nouveau-style pavilion between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when this part of the hill belonged to the Genero family. Nevertheless, a careful examination of the structure reveals that its lower brick-built section is likely to preserve the remains of the original fortification situated on the summit of this part of the hill. It served as a defensive strongpoint and as an observation post from which operations across the hills could be monitored and controlled. (number 1 in the maps)

It is a forgotten piece of the city’s history, and one that was entirely unknown to me.

In the past, it was impossible to discern its original appearance, as the walls had been covered with a rough coat of render by the owner.

The sadly neglected state in which the Fortino stands today makes it seem almost as though the City has no wish to honour the heroic defence mounted on this part of the defensive salient as well.

From an aerial view, and after carrying out a series of on-site measurements—rather risky, given some of the people who frequent the park today—I was able to determine the perimeter of the Fortino, despite the dense vegetation.

These photographs show the northern side of the Fortino, which is remarkably well preserved. The relevant section is marked with an X in the aerial photograph.

The Fort (later called) Genero

While the fort itself had a kind of defensive bastion, the remainder of the defensive salient consisted of a dry-stone wall with a step in front of it. The wall was approximately 1.20 metres high on the inside and around 2.80 metres high on the outside.

It must, of course, be assumed that there was no vegetation around it, since one of the fundamental principles of siege warfare was to maintain a clear and unobstructed field of fire, as can be seen, for example, in the final photograph taken from the eastern side of Fortino Genero.

External part of the perimetral defensive wall (North-side) - letter Z

External side of the Fort bastion - North side - Letter Y

Internal wall - Letter K

Profile view of the defensive walls of Fort “Genero”.

It should not be forgotten that the siege plans drawn up by the celebrated Vauban for the siege of Turin envisaged an attack developing from the hilly sector, rather than a direct assault on the Citadel, as La Feuillade ultimately chose to do, at an enormous cost in both resources and human lives.

Indeed, once the hilltop defensive salient had been breached—either through Fortino Genero or, above all, through the flanking sectors protected by simpler defensive structures—it would have been possible to bombard the Monte dei Cappuccini area and the defensive bastions of Borgo di Po, now Piazza Gran Madre di Dio, with cannon and mortar fire. The defenders would have been unable to return fire effectively, since they would have had to shoot uphill. Once the bastions of Borgo di Po—and, above all, Monte dei Cappuccini—had been occupied, the besiegers could have used the same tactical advantage to fire directly upon the eastern defences of the city, which were difficult to garrison effectively. This would have rapidly weakened that defensive sector and rendered the Citadel virtually useless from a defensive standpoint.

Vauban's supposed siege plan

1) Lines of attack East Side (against the Fort Genero)

2) Lines of Attack South Side (through Val Salice)

3) Lines of attack North Side 

4) Minor Lines to direct attack on the Monte dei Capuccini's defenses. 

Once the lines had been breached at points 1, 2 and 3, the troops and artillery could readily have taken up position at point 5, marked in red—today Via Villa della Regina—a small valley overlooking Borgo di Po. From there, they could have subjected it to artillery fire at extremely close range, firing downhill.

In these two images, one can still see traces of the bastions facing Monte dei Cappuccini—and to think that I pass them every morning, since my children’s school is on that very road. Their original line seems to have been retained as a guide when the road was later constructed. The area concerned is the one circled in red.