The Forte di Bard

Bard is the smallest town in the Aosta Valley. Since 2012 it has been part of the circuit of the most beautiful villages in Italy. The flagship of this village is the Fort. From a castle in the thirteenth century to a fortress in 1800. The Rocca di Bard in past centuries was an important crossroads between nations, its position has encouraged its fortification since ancient times, the main episode that is also remembered annually, was in 1800 , precisely on May 14, when 40,000 soldiers led by Napoleon attacked the Austro-Piedmontese army, but when they reached the fort they had to stop, the only 400 men willing to protect the structure refused the surrender and Napoleon took two weeks to overcome the obstacle, put in difficulty by the great defensive effectiveness of the fort; Napoleon in fact ordered its destruction to avoid future problems. In 1830 the Duke Carlo Felice of Savoy decided to have the structure rebuilt, but towards the end of the century its decline began, the fortress thus became first a prison, then a weapons depot and finally it was abandoned. In 1990 Valle D'Aosta decided to buy the fort with the project of transforming it into a museum complex that we see today. The structure hosts various exhibitions: the museum of the alps, the prison of the fort and the museum of the fortifications, all permanent exhibitions; in the cellars area we often find temporary art exhibitions. In 2014, some scenes of a Marvel film were shot here and both in the fort and in the village we can find totems that allow you to retrace the scenes of the film.