Rocca di Solferino, Military museum and medieval castle in Solferino, Italy

Rocca di Solferino is a stone fortress perched on a hilltop overlooking Lake Garda and the countryside near Mantua. The complex houses a military museum that documents the site's history and the conflict that unfolded there during the 1800s.

The fortress was constructed in 1022 and gained prominence during an 1859 conflict when French and Piedmontese troops confronted Austrian forces. This battle became a turning point that would reshape how people approached humanitarian aid in Europe.

The fortress serves as a place where visitors encounter the connection between warfare and humanitarian response. Exhibits here show how the suffering from this conflict sparked the creation of the Red Cross movement.

A wooden ramp leads from the museum rooms to the summit terrace, where a flag flies at 23 metres; the walk up passes a documentary collection on the building and the Gonzaga-era mint of Solferino. From the top you can make out the monumental tower of San Martino della Battaglia, the surrounding farmland and Lake Garda. The fortress stands inside a large public park on the hill above the town, the highest point in the province of Mantua at 206 metres.

The ossuary stands next to the Rocca, not inside it, and holds the remains of soldiers from the 24 June 1859 battle. The fortress itself keeps a different relic: the bust of French general Charles Auger, who died of wounds received there, displayed in the ground-floor museum room.