The fortifications in the area had the task of blocking the way to a possible infiltration of the enemy from Valsugana through the Vigolana plateau, as had happened in the war of 1866, with General Medici's Italian troops arriving as far as Valsorda. By the 1880s, the Brusaferro and Maranza batteries and the Maranza blockhouse had been built. At the outbreak of the First World War, modern fortifications were built that barred access to Trento from Valsorda and climbed the southern slope of the Marzola with entrenchments, artillery emplacements, caves and reinforced concrete artefacts. The Marzola separates the Adige Valley from the Valsugana: its northern summit reaches 1738 m, the southern one 1736 m. The summit offers an impressive view of the city, the Adige Valley and Vallagarina, the lakes of Levico and Caldonazzo, Valsugana and the Lagorai, stretching as far as the Brenta.
