Fortezza, the Santa Maria Bastion

Fortezza, the Santa Maria Bastion

Left of the entrance is the Bastion of Santa Maria (the Virgin) or St Paul. The guide explains that if we could see it in cross-section we would notice it is heart-shaped, a common shape in Venetian fortifications because it increased their defensive capacity.

On this bastion of the Fortezza we see some of the best-preserved gun embrasures, the paved corridors where cannon were laid to aim at the enemy through square openings in the outer wall of the fortress.

Cannonballs were piled on the raised stone platforms to left and right of each embrasure.

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