The event is part of the 2026 European Heritage Days and addresses this year’s theme, “Heritage at Risk: Revive, Resist, Reimagine”. The theme encourages communities to recognise the pressures facing architectural, natural and human heritage, while exploring practical ways to protect it and pass it on to future generations.

The Citadel of Alessandria offers a particularly meaningful setting for this reflection. Commissioned by Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy and built between 1728 and 1732 to a design by Giuseppe Ignazio Bertola, First Engineer to the King, it is one of Europe’s major eighteenth-century fortified complexes. Its bastioned layout, historic buildings, barracks, powder magazines, protected passages and green defensive landscape bring together military architecture, engineering, memory and nature.

The fortress has been described as an “anthology of defence types” because its form reflects different European traditions, including the Dutch school associated with Menno van Coehoorn and the French system developed by Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban. These influences make the Citadel a local landmark with a distinctly European history.

The Heritage Walk proposes a participatory way of experiencing this complex site. Rather than presenting the Citadel as an isolated monument, the guided visits will connect its spaces with the history of Alessandria, the people who have shaped and used the fortress, and the choices that will determine its future. Knowledge becomes the starting point for care, conservation and compatible new uses.

This approach is central to the Council of Europe Faro Heritage Community project La Cittadella di Alessandria Faro di pace in Europa. Led by the association of the same name, the project promotes dialogue among public institutions, universities, specialists, cultural organisations, local communities and citizens. Its aim is to develop shared, sustainable and innovative approaches to the management of the Citadel, while respecting both the historic fabric and the cultural dignity of the site.

The European dimension also extends beyond Alessandria. Friendship agreements and institutional cooperation with the fortified cities of Almeida in Portugal and Arad in Romania support the exchange of knowledge and experience. Such partnerships demonstrate how fortified heritage can become a field for international cooperation and a resource for peace, cultural dialogue and mutual understanding.

The 2026 Heritage Walk is organised with the participation of the Council of Europe Office in Venice, heritage authorities, universities and cultural and civic organisations, and with the patronage of the Piedmont Region, the Province of Alessandria and the City of Alessandria. This broad network reflects a shared commitment to bringing research, public participation and heritage protection together.

The programme will take place on Saturday, 26 September 2026. Four free two-hour visits will begin at 9:00, 11:00, 14:00 and 16:00. Places are limited and advance booking is required.

Information and free booking: www.alfarocittadellapace.it

Venue: Citadel of Alessandria, Via Pavia 2, 15121 Alessandria, Italy