Brancaleone Fortress

The fortress of Brancaleone was built in Ravenna in the middle of the fifteenth century, after the conquest of the city by the Venetian Republic, which wanted to strengthen its position here. The origin of the name of the fortress is not completely clear, there is an assumption that it is associated with the Venetian lion of St. Mark.

The fortress, covering an area of fourteen hectares, is surrounded by powerful walls with two round towers at the corners and two semicircular at the walls. In the northern part of the fortress stands a citadel with four more towers. Each tower has its own name: there is the Rock Tower and the Oil Tower, the Ammunition Tower and the Citadel Tower, the Middle Tower, the Garden Tower, the Broken Tower and the Ice Tower. Above the entrance to the fortress there are two bas-reliefs depicting the lion of St. Mark and the Madonna with the baby.

In the seventies of the last century a beautiful park was laid out on the territory of the fortress. The park has a children's playground, there is also a stage where rock concerts are held, the annual jazz festival "Jazz Ravenna", and every summer there are open-air film sessions.