Forte Tenaglia, Military fortress in Sampierdarena heights, Genoa, Italy

Forte Tenaglia stands at 208 metres above sea level on the Sampierdarena heights, overlooking the Polcevera valley. Built in 1633 as a hornwork, its plan resembles pincers, with two wings and batteries aimed at the mouth of the Polcevera torrent. Between 1815 and 1830 the narrow passage was raised about 10 metres and widened by 25, creating a terreplein; a buried barracks was added in 1831, giving the fort its final L-shaped layout.

The fortress was built in 1633 on the site of an earlier structure from 1478 and became part of Genoa's New Walls system. These walls were designed to protect the city from land-based attacks and remained important to Genoa's defense strategy for centuries afterward.

The name comes from the pincer shape given at construction, called in military architecture an 'opera a corno'. Most historical documents use the singular 'Tenaglia', but a marble plaque rediscovered by the La Piuma association bears 'Tenaglie', a plural traced to a mistranslation of the French 'la tenaille' in project drawings.

On foot, a trail along the old Mura Nuove runs from the Belvedere hill past Forte Tenaglia to Forte Sperone, also touching the remains of Forte Belvedere, Forte Crocetta and Forte Begato. By car, from Dinegro take via Venezia, via Ferrara and then via Bianco, turning left. Volunteers work on maintenance and recovery on Wednesdays and Saturdays; contact the organisers first.

During World War II, concrete platforms for anti-aircraft guns were installed on the fortress, and they remain visible within the original 17th-century stone structure. These later additions show how the site was repeatedly adapted to meet new threats across different eras.