Ivrea Castle was built on behalf of Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, in 1358. Ivrea was built to signify the dominance of the House of Savoy over the region. The castle has four towers erected on a plan flank. It is located next to a cathedral and a bishop's palace. The castle is mentioned in the work of Giosuè Carducci.
The most significant changes were recorded at the end of the 18th century, when the castle was transformed into a prison, first destined to State prisoners and then also to common prisoners. With the prison function, which it maintained untile the first half of the 20th century, the structure was subject to a series of additions and adaptations that naturally divided the courtyard into two parts and defined the external spaces, closed by high perimeter walls.
The first studies of the structure, including the historical origins, date back to the endo of the 19th century, important documental sources for this were contributed by Giuseppe Giacosa and Alfredo d’Andrade.
In 1979, almost ten years after dismission, the restorations were completed that demolished the structures from the 19th and 20th century and rediscovered the antique structures in the courtyard and moat areas.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.