Set within the urban fabric of Foligno, the green heart of Umbria, stands an architectural complex that represents a true piece of Italian history: the “Gonzaga Ferrante Del Vodice” Barracks. Known throughout the country as the current headquarters of the Italian Army’s National Selection and Recruitment Centre, the complex is a distinctive destination for anyone wishing to explore the historical, patriotic and military character of Foligno.

A Strategic Military Centre

Walking along the barracks’ imposing perimeter, one can still sense the atmosphere of post-unification Italy. It was around 1865 that the newly established Italian government recognised Foligno as a military centre of vital importance, owing to its central location and its role as a key railway junction, and ordered the construction of a barracks there.

The complex was intended to perform specifically military functions, but it also held profound political and social significance. For the first time, Italy was establishing a unified national defence system, within which the military centre of Foligno played an important role.

In 1871, the Municipal Council undertook to provide the land for the project and allocated 200,000 lire for the construction of the Cavallerizza, an indoor riding hall. In 1873, the “Foligno Society for the Construction of the Military Barracks” was established. Its members included local institutions and leading representatives of the community, such as the Municipality, the Savings Bank, the Workers’ Mutual Aid Society and the Philanthropic Society, as well as local industrialists, professionals and landowners.

This broad involvement clearly reflects the social and civic role, as well as the military function, that the new complex was intended to fulfil.

The works were overseen by Giovanni Castellazzi, an officer of the Military Engineers and an engineer and architect who played a leading role in nineteenth-century military architecture. Castellazzi designed the complex according to the casermette model: a series of buildings, each intended for a different function, arranged around courtyards and shared spaces.

The visit of King Umberto I during the “Great Manoeuvres” undoubtedly gave fresh impetus to the construction work. Finally, on 19 October 1884, the headquarters of the 1st Artillery Regiment left Palazzo Carrara, where it had been temporarily quartered while awaiting completion of the works, and moved into the new barracks, which were named after Victor Emmanuel II. Other units previously housed in the city’s monasteries gradually followed.

To mark the occasion, Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Traviata was performed that same day at the Teatro Apollo, later renamed the Teatro Piermarini. From that moment onwards, the complex’s imposing military architecture shaped the city’s urban development, forging an enduring social, economic and cultural bond between the people of Foligno and the Armed Forces.

The barracks subsequently underwent numerous modernisation works, while remaining faithful to the principles that had guided their original construction: the highest possible level of operational efficiency and excellent living conditions for the military personnel stationed there.

The barracks suffered damage and bombing during the First World War, but especially during the Second World War, following the armistice of 8 September 1943, when Foligno assumed a strategic role in providing logistical support to the Army and was therefore heavily bombed. In the post-war period, the building was completely renovated and, in 1954, became the School for Artillery Officer Cadets and Non-Commissioned Officer Cadets.