Located at the western end of the Plateau of Asiago, not far away from mount Cengio and the town of Tresche’ Conca, the fortress of Punta Corbin was part of the Italian fortresses forming the line of defence on the pre-alps at the north of Vicenza.
Its construction commenced in 1906 on top of a cliff facing on to the Valley of the river Astico and its purpose was to provide the valley with an appropriate defence against an eventual Austro-Hungarian invasion. Even though it was designed to be one of the more powerful fortresses on the tableau, its role during the war was only marginal.
After only a few months from the beginning of the conflict, Fort Corbin, as all the other forts on the plateau, was stripped of its guns and became ineffectual.
During the Strafen expedition of the spring of 1916, the fortress was easily occupied by the Austro-Hungarian army and it remained in their hands for the duration the bloody battle they fought against the grenadiers of Sardinia for the occupation of Mount Cengio.
It was during that battle that Carlo Stuparich, an irredentist from Trieste, lost his life by committing suicide rather than being taken prisoner and facing death by hanging as a traitor.
At the end of the strafen expedition, Fort Corbin fell into Italian hands and was no longer involved in any fighting. Its role became that of an observatory facing Mount Cimone which remained in Austrian hands until the end of the war.
Once the conflict was over, it was used as army barracks and as a training facility. In the twenties, the government of Rome authorized the removal of the steel domes which had been designed to protect the guns, and the structure was neglected.
