Forte Santa Tecla is an imposing structure located on the old port of Sanremo . It was built in the years 1755-56 by order of the Republic of Genoa to "keep the Sanremo people in good standing" following the popular uprising of 1753 triggered by Genoa's decision to separate Sanremo from Colla.

The fort, with a triangular plan and bastioned on the vertices, is a typical example of military architecture of the eighteenth century, one of the few remaining intact on the Ligurian coast. It is spread over three floors, with a firepower of 16 artillery pieces, arranged on the front bulwarks and another 5 smaller ones on the rear bastion. It was intended to house a military contingent made up of two companies of 40 men each.

Fort Santa Tecla still played its role in the Napoleonic period, as part of the coastal defensive system when some pieces of artillery were placed there. After 1815, with the annexation of Liguria to the Kingdom of Sardinia, the fort was used as a barracks while remaining a symbol of the firmness and authority of Genoa on the Riviera di Ponente. In the unification period, in 1864, the fort was adapted to a Judicial Prison, keeping the original layout intact. Today recovered in the central part it is used for cultural events and events, pending the planned overall restoration.