Forte Spagnolo (National Museum of Abruzzo)

The Forte Spagnolo is one of the finest examples of 16th-century Renaissance military architecture in central Italy. The huge square fortress with its angled bastions was built by the Spanish in the 1530s to consolidate their control over L'Aquila, and its sheer scale is immediately impressive — the walls are fifteen metres high and the structure dominates the northern part of the old town.

Today the fortress houses the Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo, which contains a wide-ranging collection covering prehistory, Roman finds, medieval art, and a strong collection of Abruzzese painting and sculpture from the 15th to 18th centuries. The star exhibit is the woolly mammoth skeleton discovered in the 1930s, one of the most complete mammoth specimens in Italy. The fortress itself is worth seeing regardless of the museum — the outer walls and bastions can be walked for free, with good views over the city and mountains.

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A story
The Forte Spagnolo was built in the 1530s by the Spanish viceroy Don Pedro of Toledo, who reportedly stated it was built as much to intimidate the Aquilani as to defend them. The fortress never saw major military action but served as a prison for centuries, incarcerating political prisoners during both the Bourbon period and the Fascist era. In 1934, workers excavating near the fortress uncovered the skeleton of a woolly mammoth — it is now one of the highlights of the museum inside.