The remains of the Fontana tower and the tower above the Corna testify to the important role that Averara played in the Middle Ages in the context of the upper Brembana Valley. The two towers are located in a strategic position: one along the Via Mercatorum, near the small fortress that stood in the Castello district, the other on the top of a rocky spur that allowed control of the valley and the road up to Santa Brigida. They were part of a defensive system that was based not only on the fortified building of the Castle, but also on another tower, demolished in the 18th century, perhaps built in the lower part of Averara.
The construction of the two towers dates back to the 13th-14th centuries, at the time of the fierce Guelph-Ghibelline struggles that also bloodied these areas. After the passage of the Averara Valley under Venetian domination, the local administrators obtained the right to guard the fortified towers in the area themselves, thus avoiding the presence of military garrisons.
The towers remained active in the following centuries, at least until the 18th century: in the 17th-century painting in the parish church of Averara, the Fontana tower is depicted intact, covered by a sloping roof, with a door on the west side and windows on the upper floors.
Italian