Ravaldino Fortress, also known as the Fortress of Caterina Sforza
It takes the name from the ancient battlements on which, between the years 1360 and 1371, the first Ravaldino Fortress arose, while the Fortress itself was designed by the architect Giorgio Marchesi Fiorentino in 1471, at the behest of Pino III Ordelaffi.
In 1481, the fortress was built and subsequently the citadel came, the latter built on demand of Girolamo Riario, Forli’s new lord, who commissioned the works to the same architect.
In 1496, Caterina Sforza "Romagna's Lady", widow of Riario and regent on behalf of her son Ottaviano, requested that a third battlement and a villa be built over the fourteenth-century fortress ruins. The structure, at that time, was considered invincible, also due to its complexity, but in December of that year, Cesare Borgia besieged it, storming the fortress on January 12, 1500 and leading Caterina Sforza to Rome in chains.
In the XVI century, the fortress lost its military role and in the XIX century, the fortifications were used as a prison, until the end of the last century, when the current prisons were built inside the citadel.
For many years on end, the fortress underwent significant restoration and improvements, which now make it the protagonist of concerts, exhibitions and art shows. Recently, two towers and the donjon roofs were re-built and the passageways reopened. In the same building, it is possible to find a unique stone spiral staircase, (not open to the public), without central spindle which 67 steps' are supported by superimposition.
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