Forte Teglia, Pianosa

Forte Teglia is called a complex of buildings located on a promontory overlooking the harbor of the island of Pianosa, in the municipal territory of Campo nell'Elba, in the province of Livorno. Its location is on a modest spur that encloses the Porticciolo to the west and the modern landing place to the east. This complex of buildings was formed through the superimposition of several successive interventions.

Probably, during the Appiani Seigniory it housed a watchtower to protect the small village present on the left side of the ancient Porticciolo. In 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte ordered a "bomb-proof" barracks to be built there that could house about thirty soldiers and had a platform for cannons in its front. The work remained unfinished due to his sudden departure from Elba Island on February 26, 1815.

In the years following the Restoration, the Grand Ducal Government provided in various stages to finish both the barracks and the platform by arming it with a coastal cannon.

Fort Teglia remained with this function until the late 1870s, when it underwent major alterations with the addition of various service facilities to the prison complex that had been established since 1858.

Today on the end of a parapet made added by the Grand Ducal Government to make the cannon easier to maneuver, a statue of Our Lady placed there by Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1986 during her visit to Pianosa Prison can be seen.

The complex is articulated on several staggered levels, with most of the summit sections featuring a crowning of round-arched blind arches on which the crenellation above is articulated; at the southern and northwestern corners there are turriform structures leaning against the remaining structure. Along the western and eastern facades are a series of mullioned windows characterized by central small columns on which rest the two small pointed arches, in turn surmounted by the larger semicircular arch. On the whole, neo-Romanesque stylistic elements prevail, clearly distinguishable in the eclectic-style layout.