All Castles in Lombardy

Castello Sforzesco is a castle in Vigevano, located in an elevated position in the historical center of the town, near Piazza Ducale and the Cathedral of Sant’Ambrogio. The castle covers an area of about 70,000 square meters, being one of the largest fortified complexes in Europe. Castello Sforzesco houses Pinacoteca Casimiro Ottone, the National Archaeological Museum of Lomellina (Museo Archeologico Nazionale della Lomellina) and the Pietro Bertolini International Footwear Museum (Museo Internazionale della Calzatura Pietro Bertolini).   SHORT HISTORY OF CASTELLO SFORZESCO The primitive castle of Vigevano, built in the 7th century, consisted of a small wooden structure. Before the 10th century, the structure was replaced by a building with brick walls and was separated from the town by a moat. Luchino Visconti, podestà (chief magistrate) of Vigevano between 1319 and 1337, decided to transform the village into a defensive stronghold. With this in mind, in 1341, he built a defensive fortress, located at a certain distance from the ancient castle, on the eastern limit of the village. At the same time, the work of transforming the old castle into a ducal residence began. The new structure had a quadrangular plan formed by crenellated walls, with towers at the corners Read more [...]

Castello di San Giorgio (Saint George’s Castle) is a moated rectangular castle in Mantua, located in the northeastern corner of the city. The castle is part of the Ducal Palace.   SHORT HISTORY Castello di San Giorgio was commissioned by Francesco I Gonzaga to the architect Bartolino da Novara, and built on the ruins of the Church of Santa Maria di Capo di Bove between 1395 and 1406. In 1458, the architect Luca Fancelli, at the behest of the Marquis Ludovico II Gonzaga, renovated the castle, which definitively lost its military and defensive functions. The castle was for many years the residence of Isabella d’Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga, one of the most famous noblewomen of the Renaissance. As the Lady of the manor, Isabella invited numerous artists and humanists of the time at the castle, such as the painters Andrea Mantegna and Pietro Perugino, the polymath Leonardo da Vinci, or the poets Ludovico Ariosto and Baldassarre Castiglione. The castle remained the Gonzaga residence for about a century, until Guglielmo Gonzaga moved his apartments to the renovated Palazzo Ducale. Starting with 1815, after the Austrian occupation of the city, the castle became a maximum security prison where opponents of Read more [...]

Castello di Brescia (Castle of Brescia), also known as Falcone d’Italia (Falcon of Italy), is a fortress built on the Cidneo Hill, in Brescia, close to the historical center of the city. The fortification complex occupies an area of about 75,000 square meters, being one of the largest in Italy.   SHORT HISTORY The first settlements on the Cidneo Hill date back to the Bronze Age, but the first real construction was a small temple dedicated to the Celtic god Bergimus, built in the 7th century BC. At the end of the 1st century BC, the Romans included the hill inside the city walls, and in the 1st century AD, they built a monumental temple here. With the passing of the centuries and the advent of Christianity, the hill was considered a sacred area. An early Christian martyrium was built here, then replaced by a large basilica, demolished in the 18th century. Today, only one of the two towers of the basilica still stands, the one known as the Mirabella Tower. In the first half of the 14th century, during the Visconti domination, the keep (mastio), a structure with a rectangular base and crenellated walls, was built. The keep was Read more [...]