Rocca degli Alberi - Porta Legnago

Rocca degli Alberi represents the final phase of great expansion of the defensive wall system of Montagnana, promoted by the powerful Carraresi, Lords of the city of Padua, during the fourteenth century.

This mighty and at the time impregnable architecture was built in just two years, between 1360 and 1362, by the architect Franceschin de 'Schici and commissioned by Francesco I da Carrara, known as the Elder. In fact, he wanted to reinforce a stretch of weak walls facing the Veronese border, a land under the control of the Scaligeri enemies.

The fortress, consisting of three buildings - entrance hall, tower and keep - was protected by a deep external moat and an internal counter-ditch, by drawbridges, gates and shutters. Its name, "degli Alberi", originates from the peculiar conformation of the territory on which it was originally built: an area thick with vegetation and full of trees.