Medieval castles in Veneto
Castelvecchio
Castelvecchio ('Old Castle') is the most important military construction of the Scaliger dynasty that ruled the city in the Middle Ages. The castle stands on the probable location of a Roman fortress outside the Roman city. Lord Cangrande II della Scala had it built along with its bridge across the Adige River as a deterrent to his powerful neighbors such as Venice, the Gonzaga and the Sforza families. Construction was ca ...
Founded: 1354 |
Location:
Verona, Italy
San Pietro Castle
Verona was founded to the site of current Castel San Pietro. This green hill, crowned by cypresses, is home to the remains of the first settlements dating back to the 7th century B.C. From this magnificent vantage-point you can enjoy the view of the whole city spreading out, with its network of Roman Roads, its walls, tall towers and steeples and, if your eyesight is good, you can even make out part of the Arena and the P ...
Founded: 1393 |
Location:
Verona, Italy
Malcesine Castle
Malcesine's most prominent landmark is the Castello Scaligero, which has 13th-century fortifications and an older medieval tower in white natural stone. Like the castle of Sirmione at the southern end of the lake, it is named for the della Scala family of Verona who ruled the region in the 13th and 14th centuries, and has the characteristic swallow-tail Ghibelline merlon crenallations. Remnants of an Etruscan tomb have be ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Malcesine, Italy
Villafranca Castle
The Castle of Villafranca di Verona was built starting in 1199, after the Battle of Ponte dei Molini (Mantua), and was completed in 1202. The purpose was to defend the population of Villafranca in casa of sudden attacks from Mantua. Serraglio, a defensive wall unique in Europe, was built in 1345. It is about 13 miles long. It started from Borghetto and linked five castles: Borghetto, Valeggio, Gherla, Villafranca and Nog ...
Founded: 1199 |
Location:
Villafranca di Verona, Italy
Asolo Castle
Asolo Castle dates back to the 10th century although there is no definite information indicating the origins of the complex. In 1242 it was home to Ezzelino da Romano and, from 1339, it became the seat of the podestà of Venice. At the end of the 14th century it was merged with the city walls. Three of the four towers it still remain: the Civic or Bell tower, the Reata tower acting as a gaol and the Carro tower, nowadays ...
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Asolo, Italy
Marostica Castles
Marostica area became under the rule of Cangrande I della Scala in 1311. Next year he founded two castles in Marostica, the lower (Castello Inferiore) and upper (Castello Superiore) castle. The lower castle in the city center is rectangular. After the War of the League of Cambrai, the mayor moved his headquarters from upper to lower castle. The upper castle is a square form building with four little towers on the sides ...
Founded: 1312 |
Location:
Marostica, Italy
Lazise Castle Ruins
This fortified town of Lazise was first mentioned in a document dated 983 AD, yet the present castle was erected during the reign of Bartolomeo and Antonio della Scala, as evidenced by the fact that the castle bears their initials in several places. The castle was at one time protected by draw-bridges and heavy gates. Judging by its size, the castle presumably served to offer protection (in time of strife) not only to the ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Lazise, Italy
Torri del Benaco Castle
The present castle at Torri del Benaco (Castello Scaligero) was built by Antonio della Scala in 1383 to the ruins of a older castle dating back to the Xth century. The West Tower of older castle still remains. In 1760 the second curtain wall was torn down to make way for the Lemon Grove. The decline of the castle ended in 1980 when the Commune of Torri started complete restoration under the architect Rudi Arrigo.
Founded: 1383 |
Location:
Torri del Benaco, Italy
Cittadella
Cittadella is a medieval walled city founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is 1,461 metres in circumference with a diameter of around 450 metres. There are four gates which roughly correspond the points of the compass. The town was founded in 1220 by the Paduans to counterbalance the fortification of Castelfranco. It was built in successive stages in a poly ...
Founded: 1220 |
Location:
Cittadella, Italy
Bassano del Grappa Castle
The fortifications in Bassano del Grappa was mentioned already in 998. Bishop of Vicenza donated the town in the late 12th century to Ecelo I, founder of later powerful family of Ezzelini. The oldest structures of castle still present date from the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1411 during the war between the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Hungary its fortifications resisted the attacks of Emperor Sigismund of Lux ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Bassano del Grappa, Italy
Soave Castle
Soave castle was built in 934 to protect the area against the Hungarian invasions. It was remodelled by Cansignorio of the Scaliger family in the mid-1300s. in 1365 Cansignorio had the town walls erected and the Town hall was built in the same year. The castle underwent various vicissitudes until, having lost its strategic importance, it was sold on the private market in 1596. In 1830 it was inherited by Giulio Camuzzoni ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Soave, Italy
Monselice Castle
Monselice town is known of an imposing architectural complex called Castello Cini, which incorporates several diverse types of building. From the 6th to the 16th centuries the castle has changed from a luxurious residence, to defensive tower to become a Venetian villa.The Castle is made up, in fact, of four main nucleuses: the most ancient part is the Roman house (Casa Romanica, 11th century) which together with the Caste ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Monselice, Italy
CastelBrando
CastelBrando, former Castrum Costae, is a medieval castle situated on a dolomite limestone rock overlooking the villages of Cison di Valmarino and Valmareno. The name CastelBrando is due to the name Brandolini, the ancient family from Forlì, who were the Lords of the castle. CastelBrando was originally built in the Roman age as a defensive fortress in order to protect the important lines of communication which connected ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Cison di Valmarino, Italy
Conegliano Castle
Starting from its foundation in the 11th century, Conegliano featured an innovative type of fortified settlement, common to several towns of the area, such as Bassano and Marostica. A fortified area on the top of the hill, with the below village which spreads along the Monticano river and at the feet of the main hill. The old Castle used to include a smaller walled area with several towers, also protected by moats. Withi ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Conegliano, Italy
Rocca di Asolo
According a tradition there has been a defensive complex here since pre-Roman times. The Rocca fortress was built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The last military operation took place in 1510 and after that Rocca was moved as hospital and private use. The fortress was involved in his latest war episode in 1510 . Gradually Persa"s strategic importance, the structure was used as a variety of uses also be ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Asolo, Italy
Bevilacqua Castle
Bevilacqua Castle is considered one of the finest examples of its kind on Veronese territory. It was erected in 1336. Guglielmo Bevilacqua and his son, Francesco, were both commissioned by the Della Scala (Lords of Verona) to erect it. Originally erected for purely military purposes, the castle was damaged during the period of League of Cambrai and lost its strategic importance during the reign of the Venetian Republic. ...
Founded: 1336 |
Location:
Bevilacqua, Italy
San Salvatore Castle
San Salvatore is one of the largest castles in northern Italy. In 1245, the city of Treviso granted the hill of San Salvatore to the Collalto family. They built a castle on top of the hill between the late 13th and early 14th centuries. In 1312, when the castle was complete, Emperor Henry VII granted full jurisdiction of the area to the Collalto family. They planted vineyards in the fields around the castle. The 16th to ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Susegana, Italy
Valeggio Castle
Valeggio Castle, situated on tall spurs overlooking the River Mincio, bears the typical characteristics of a Della Scala castle, even if it was most probably built on a pre-existing structure. The Scaligeri family realised its strategic importance and erected a castle featuring the typical massive walls, square towers, battlemented keep, draw-bridge and passage guarded by a tower which is shorter than the others. The cast ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Valeggio sul Mincio, Italy
Montorio Castle Ruins
Montorio Castle was presumably a look-out post which was once part of the Verona city fortifications and which is first mentioned in documents dating back to 995 AD. It was subsequently rebuilt by the Aldobrandeschi in the Middle Ages and restructured by the Ottieri and then transformed into a fortified farmhouse after the annexation of the county in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Only certain sections of the structure remai ...
Founded: 10th century AD |
Location:
Verona, Italy
Bellaguardia and della Villa Castles
The castles of Bellaguardia and della Villa look at each other on Montecchio Maggiore hill. They are also known as Romeo and Juliet"s castles, the two unlucky passionate lovers whose legend was narrated by the count Luigi Da Porto. He was from Vicenza, vicar in Arzignano, town fortifications strategist, poet and author of the novel earlier known as La Giulietta which was reprised in the early 16th century by authors ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Montecchio Maggiore, Italy