In 1811 at Portonovo the English plundered two barges used for the transport of rocks in the harbor. The garrison posted there fought with the English. Afterwards the French erected a beautiful fortress with several ramparts and barracks for 600 soldiers to protect the coast.
The fortress was built to prevent mobs from the English fleet breaking the continental block and managing to land in Portonovo to take on the excellent drinking water gushing out from the depths of the mountain. The typical perimetrical "lantern" shape denotes the Napoleonic origins of the fortress, in fact the Italian viceroy Eugenio of Beauharnais dealt with its construction following orders of Napoleone Bonaparte.
The armory, the court, the fireplace room, the Marshall's hall: the hotel respects the original division of the structure.
