Triple-barrelled cannon found in Croatian fort is 'machine gun' forerunner designed by Da Vinci

When an ancient three-barrelled cannon was discovered by schoolchildren, museum officials would have known they had stumbled on a rare find.

But now, 40 years after the discovery of the unique weapon, they have learned just how important it is - the gun is a prototype designed by Leonardo Da Vinci himself.

The cannon was discovered in a Croatian fort, but only now has it been confirmed it was designed more than 500 years ago by the artist and inventor.

Weapon of war: This triple barrel cannon designed by Leonardo Da Vinci was found in a 15th century fort in Croatia

Da Vinci was famous for his weapons of war which were hugely in demand among the rival factions in the northern Italian cities.

He was the first to invent a breech-loading machine gun with several cannons in rotation which meant soldiers could be firing one, loading another and cooling the third.

The triple-barrel cannon, apparently one of his less successful designs, had been dumped in the Klicevica border fortress near the southern town of Benkovac.

A group of schoolchildren discovered it and told museum officials in the town - but its 15th century origin remained a mystery until today.



The original Da Vinci designs are regarded as forerunners for the modern machine gun. Until now the only Da Vinci cannons on display in Italy have been replicas.

Invention: The multi-barrelled machine gun was a weapon with remarkable firepower. Da Vinci sketched this rolling artillery battery around 1480





A spokesman for the Benkovac museum said: 'We have only recently confirmed the age of our cannon and that it was one designed by Da Vinci.

'As far as we know this is the only original cannon designed by [him] left in the world.'

The Da Vinci bronze triple barrel canon will now be exhibited in in Benkovac.

The archaeologists believe it was probably brought to the Croatian area of Dalmatia from Venice as Venetians ruled the area at that time and fought Turks for control.