The Castle of Rezzonico is the concrete sign of the fortified village of Rezzonico that overlooks Lake Como.
Built in the fourteenth century (1363) by the Counts Della Torre, the Castle of Rezzonico is similar for the type to the castle of Corenno Plinio in the town of Dervio.The castle covers an area of about two thousand square meters and within its walls there were houses and the main tower. It was not a royal castle as in the fairy tale, but an important fortification.It is said that the castle was built on top of an earlier fortification, of which today traces remain in the two gates to the town of Rezzonico.
Della Torre family, owner of the castle, is a family with a long dynasty, divided into several branches, including the one of Venice where we find the figure of Pope John XIII, also known as Papa Rezzonico, and the branch of Como with figures of captains and writers, among them emerges the dialect poet Giovanni Rezzonico.
Currently the castle is still a private property: of a French family for over a century, so no visits inside are available. It is used as a location for weddings or private events.
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.