Palmanova XR is an immersive experience that allows visitors to step directly into history.
Through 360° spherical videos, visitors can relive seven historical settings, travelling back in time to witness scenes of military and civilian life between the 17th and 19th centuries, offering an immersive and dynamic way to experience the city’s historical memory.
Using extended virtual reality and interactive content, visitors can explore bastions, underground galleries and spaces within the fortress while encountering characters and situations connected to daily life and the defence of the city. It is an engaging and innovative way to understand Palmanova, where technology and historical storytelling merge directly within the real locations of the visit.
Immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the Venetian era along the bastions of the impregnable Fortress of Palmanova.
If you are in Palmanova, locate and scan the PalmanovaXR QR codes with your smartphone to watch panoramic videos directly on site and discover scenes of life set exactly in the places you are visiting.
If you are at home, visit the dedicated PalmanovaXR website to enjoy the panoramic videos online, also through VR headsets, and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the Venetian fortress wherever you are. Information, maps and videos are available at www.palmanovaxr.it
The seven locations of the experience
1. Rivellino Galleries
Austrian troops are attacking the fortress and the soldiers of the Serenissima defend it fiercely. To stop the enemy advance, the rivellini — the underground galleries built inside the second defensive line — must be blown up. From the outposts above, sentries observe the movements of the Austrian army and signal the right moment to act.
2. Donato Bastion Ear-Shaped Outwork
The nine bastions, with their unmistakable arrowhead shape, form the first of the fortress’s three defensive walls. Their structure allowed soldiers to gather and prepare unseen by the enemy before leaving the city through the large sortie gallery with horses and weapons to launch surprise counterattacks.
3. The postern of Garzoni Bastion
To provide refreshment for the guards, the postern is transformed into a tavern with drinks, a warm fireplace and tables for card games and morra. But beware of excesses: cheating gamblers are eventually discovered, while officers know exactly where to find soldiers who violate military discipline.
4. The bivouac outside the postern of Garzoni Bastion
During a temporary truce, troops set up a bivouac in front of the bastion lodge. Under the watchful eyes of the guards, some soldiers prepare weapons, others practise shooting or fencing, while some play the lute for local women and others take the opportunity to rest.
5. Willow Belvedere
The peaceful landscape overlooking the moat near Porta Aquileia, between the first and second defensive walls, becomes the stage for a fierce sword duel between two pairs of gentlemen. Love, money and power are the motives behind these merciless confrontations.
6. Borgo Udine Waterfalls
Here flows the Roggia di Palma canal, which feeds the fortress moat and the Venetian aqueduct. The canal is a place for everyday activities such as washing clothes and socialising in the open air. Even in times of peace, however, armed surveillance along the walls remains necessary.
7. Flying over the Fortress from Piazza Grande
Enjoy a spectacular 360-degree aerial view over Palmanova: the perfect city, impregnable to enemies, protective and secure for those living within its walls, recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The aerial footage reveals the city’s geometry and remarkable military and architectural engineering, which still inspire admiration today.