Historical background

An examination of the historical series of the tablets IGM (Sheet 37-Asiago) held by the Cartographic laboratory of the University of architecture of Venice has had occasion to observe that in the 1° Sunrise 1886 immediately south of Mount Interrupted, is unequivocally stated both the structure of the barracks, complete with towers and moat (flanked by the words "Fort of m. Interrupted") that the access road which from below the village of Camporovere , clambering through a series of switchbacks along the southern slope of Mount Rasta and Interrupted, reaches its military structure.

In the stand next (1902 and 1910), and until the outbreak of World War I, for obvious security reasons, disappear from the Fort's claim that cartography (in 1902) the access road while the old mule track that is highlighted by Büscar salt to stopped and then continue towards Monte Mosciagh and val Galmarara (see document No 2 and 3).

In dawned with General August 1910 and partial reconnaissance to June 1918 "we still only the access road-but not the structure of the Fort--which then connects to the extensive network of roads built during the conflict by the Austro-Hungarian army. Only in 1927 reappears in the structure of the official cartography strong that is however represented by the symbols "Rov.ne" typical side-by-side ruins (the ruins).

The structure

As shown by the examination of the documentation available, the defensive barracks of m. you Interrupted, as well as below the Cut was made with the obvious purpose of Assa, control and supervise the main connecting road between the plateau and the Habsburg empire (the Val d Assa) anticipating in this sense the concept that about thirty years later will lead the realization on the part of the Italian high command armored works Verena , Campolongo, Corbin, Lisser (to quote only the strong of the plateau).

The structure is extremely simple in its setting that reveals the conceptions and theories on the fortifications (even before the technologies and construction techniques) peculiar to the period in which it was designed and built. Built entirely of stone, with rectangular reinforced diagonally by two towers and surrounded by a moat of mt. 4 and average depth of mt. 5, completely different from the defensive barracks appears ironclads built on the plateau in the years immediately before the outbreak of World War I. And their warlike appearance reminded the historian-as-medioeval vicentino Pantoja-has always struck the imagination of many visitors who consider it a sort of "medieval" Castle: appellation that appears in an English map of September 1918 "Intelligence map # 2., G.H.Q., September 18, 1918"

As can be seen from the iconography in 1904 document found in the archives of the Istituto Storico dell'arma del Genio and, above all, from the sketch stored at Vienna at the Österreichisches Staatsarchiv spy documents the structure, which has approximate size of mt. 50 x 35, has two floors offset by mt. 4 (North-South) which are connected to each other at the midline on the two fronts. The main building comprises two floors above ground height (measured to the eaves starting from the top of the ditch) to 14.7 mt. While the two corner towers reach a height of about 23.
Inside opens a large courtyard of approximate size of mt. 28 x 17 paved entirely in stone slabs covering the below water tank. At the Northwest corner was installed a bathtub and a well to be pumped directly into the water from the cistern. On the ground floor, in addition to guardiola, were located the main facilities (kitchen, various deposits, stables) while the premises upstairs were mainly intended for accommodation of troops.
The coverage of the main building, as well as of the two towers, was a ridge roof with cladding and guttering (possibly). The slope of the ground had to be extremely limited and not longer at 8-9%

The barracks, which the aforementioned Austrian documents classified as "non-armored casemate" (kasemattiertes Werk ohne Panzer), presented to the outside only small slits for rifles (245), and other larger small-caliber cannons 10, which were serviced by a kind of inner corridor that grew along the outer walls.
Towards the inner courtyard, there were two tiers of arched Windows with shutters and wooden balconies like "wing". Both the loopholes that the Windows were surrounded with white marble.

Apart from the moat, the barracks was defence along almost its entire perimeter by an artificial embankment which, according to the information Austrian sketch had been erected surrounding about 4 metres from ground level.

The war

In the Chronicles of the Alpine "Bassano" Battalion, since 1903, the almost continuous presence during the summer, a company of the battalion at the barracks of the Interrupted.
As is known, in fact, the plateau as well as being one of the tanks of recruitment of Bassano, soon became one of the main places of occupation troops in training is, and especially during the summer and winter. In addition to its headquarters barracks shore, the "strong" Interrupted thus became, until the outbreak of World War I, a branch of a company of the battalion (usually a 62 or 63).

At the outbreak of the great war (May 24, 1915) the Fort found itself in position greatly set back from the fighting front. Only with the unleashing of the so called Strafe-expedition, in may 1916, the Fort was invested by the Austro-Hungarian troops. Busy day may 27, for the rest of the conflict it remained firmly in the hands of Austria becoming a terrific vantage point towards the Italian positions opposite.
Italian military cartography of 1917, as well as the Allied ones updated on September 1918, in fact unequivocally "Observatory" and "Spotlight" while the surrounding areas are reported some artillery batteries. At the foot of the Fort, just above the last curve of the access road, it is still possible to visit the remains of a reinforced artillery emplacement a.u.-with attached Observatory-which was originally linked to above and strong defensive lines from some tunnels dug into the rock.

The strong-strictly speaking-it was on the contrary never armed even owing to its location too exposed to the shooting of the Italian artillery and the characteristics of its structure. And on the occasion of the Italian offensive of June 1917 (the so-called Battle of Ortigara) and especially during the battle of June 1918 (the "battle of the Solstice") the Fort was repeatedly centered between Italian and Allied artillery.

Significant appears in this respect, the comparison between two Austrian picture from the Österreichisches Staatsarchiv in Vienna (surely the most interesting so far found) that portray the Fort supposedly in the days immediately following the occupation (May-June 1916) and some aerial photos of September 1918.
In the first, in fact, the structure looks damaged only in a few points: the Northwest Tower and coverage of the western portion. As far as we can observe the surrounding terrain is not particularly disruptions while the courtyard appears perfectly intact. On top of the donjon Northwest we can see also a machine gun for defense against attack planes.
In aerial photos taken by French Scouts 51° gruppo S.P.A. (you belong to the 12th c. of a. French) respectively in May 1918 and during the first days of September, instead a picture of great destruction. Surrounding areas featured Gothic heavily shaken by artillery shooting. The moat has some slumping along the South and East. The cover is completely absent and you can see clearly a collapse of part of the masonry inside (towards the courtyard) at the Northwest corner. The outer walls, especially along the southern Fort, clearly appears thin in several places.
Unfortunately the height (4100 m) and the distance from which the photos were taken and the State of conservation of the same do not allow making any further and more accurate assessments of the damage sustained by the strong.

There are however some photos of the 1930s – including a photo Bonomo reproduced in the book "Asiago and the Altopiano dei sette Comuni". Joseph Abbas-and in particular the images contained in the movie "the thrill of the sky" produced by INCOM of s. Pallavicini in 1939. The film which, as we know, it tells the story of a group of friends sharing a passion for flight, was shot entirely on the plateau in the late 1930s and is-from this point of view-a very interesting documentary that portrays the mountains, grasslands and Central Highland basin countries as you come out of the reconstruction.

In the short story the Fort of m. you Interrupted, renamed for the occasion "il castellaccio", became the headquarters of the "society of danger" where friends gather to plan their businesses and hence the protagonist lifts off with his balloon.

Strong images contained in the movie there are heavily damaged especially at the South front and the inner courtyard. The terrain in front of the numerous craters caused by the outbreak highlights yet grenades. You can also detect the destruction of much of the north face and internal brickwork external wall of the South front, vertical links as well as the absence of all items of furniture and furnishings.

In the years immediately following the end of the war the Fort was stripped by the army before, and the recovering of all metallic materials including downpipes, guttering, door frames and window frames of Windows and doors.
On the other hand the strong, like other works by battleships present on the plateau, had permanently lost its original function. The redefinition of national boundaries with which also the plateau ceased, after centuries of being "borderland", made it utterly anachronistic reset of the barracks defence stopped. The structure was thus abandoned to their fate.
Since then, the ravages of time and man have accentuated the degradation to the point of undermining dangerously static conditions.