Located next to the sea, it is believed that the first fortification sited on the bar of the River Lima estuary dates from the reign of King Afonso III (13th century). However, the earliest certain date is the 15th century, when a fortress was built there that would have been completed in the following century, in the reign of King Manuel I. This is indicated by various Manueline architectural features, notably the 'Roqueta Tower' in the south-west bastion of the present fortress.
In the late 16th century, the fortress underwent a series of improvement works, having already been under Spanish domination in the reign of Philip II (Philip I of Portugal). And so the current fortress, with its polygonal floor plan, was built based on a design by Filippo de Terzi, the most famous architect of military buildings of that period.
References:Redipuglia is the largest Italian Military Sacrarium. It rises up on the western front of the Monte Sei Busi, which, in the First World War was bitterly fought after because, although it was not very high, from its summit it allowed an ample range of access from the West to the first steps of the Karstic table area.
The monumental staircase on which the remains of one hundred thousand fallen soldiers are lined up and which has at its base the monolith of the Duke of Aosta, who was the commanding officer of the third Brigade, and gives an image of a military grouping in the field of a Great Unity with its Commanding Officer at the front. The mortal remains of 100,187 fallen soldiers lie here, 39,857 of them identified and 60,330 unknown.