Brief but brilliant career building fortifications
Bergamo-born architect and military engineer Antonio Ferramolino died on
this day in 1550 during the siege of Mahdia in Tunisia.
He is remembered in Bergamo by a road named after him on the outskirts
of the city, Via Antonio Feramolino, which is a turning off Via Grumello, the
main road running through Grumello del Piano.
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| Bergamo's own defensive walls were built by the Venetians, 11 years after Ferramolino's death |
Ferramolino, who is also sometimes referred to as Sferrandino da
Bergamo, began his career as a soldier, but by 1529 he was known to have been
overseeing the construction of artillery for the Venetian Arsenal.
He fought against the Ottomans in Hungary in 1532 and was also present
at the conquest of Tunis in 1535.
In 1536, the Emperor Charles V sent Ferramolino to review the fortifications
of Messina and other parts of Sicily. During the next few years he designed fortifications for Messina,
Palermo, Catania and Milazzo in Sicily.
In 1538 he went to the Republic of Ragusa, which is now Dubrovnik in
Croatia, to design the Revelin Fortress, a series of defensive stone walls that
proved impossible to breach. In 1540 he went to Malta, where he designed the Fort of St. Angelo and
other fortifications.
Ferramolino died on the battlefield in Tunisia on 18 August 1550 after
being hit by a lead ball fired from an arquebus during the siege of Mahdia.