Visconti Castle (Invorio) | |
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Invorio | |
![]() The surviving tower of the castle | |
Coordinates | 45°45′30″N8°29′17″E / 45.75833°N 8.48806°E |
Type | Medieval castle |
Site information | |
Open to the public | No |
Condition | Destroyed (only a tower has been preserved) |
Site history | |
Built | 11th century |
Built by | Counts of Biandrate, Visconti |
In use | 11th–14th centuries |
The Visconti Castle of Invorio was a mediaeval castle located in Invorio, Province of Novara, Piedmont, northern Italy. Only a tower today survives, surrounded by the traces of the ancient walls. Matteo I Visconti, Lord of Milan, was born there in 1250.
The first account of a fortification at Invorio dates back to the 11th century. At that time the site was a possession of the counts of Biandrate. In the 12th and 13th centuries the castle went under the control of the Novara commune, to finally become a property of the Visconti of Milan. Since that time it had been a residence of the Visconti di Invorio, a collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan. [1]
Between 1356 and 1358, the castle was heavily damaged during the war that opposed the Visconti to the Marquess of Monferrato. After the castle's demise, the Visconti di Invorio families moved to the nearby area, where they built new houses and a 16th-century villa. In 1742 Alberto Visconti d'Aragona, a member of another Visconti branch, obtained the title of Marquess of Invorio.
The area of the ancient castle is isolated on the summit of a relief, surrounded by streets overlooked by the old Visconti houses and villas. The access to the castle was probably located in Via Martinotti, few meters before the surviving tower, where a front gate surmounted by a Biscione carved in stone is visible. Another Biscione can be seen above the entrance door of the tower. [1]
The biscione, less commonly known also as the vipera, is in heraldry a charge consisting of a divine serpent in the act of giving birth to a child. It is a historic symbol of the city of Milan, used by companies based in the city.
The Rocca Borromeo di Angera, or Rocca d'Angera, also called Borromeo Castle, is a rocca on a hilltop above the town of Angera in the Province of Varese on the southern shores of Lago Maggiore. It has medieval origins and initially belonged to the Milanese archbishop. It passed then to the Visconti of Milan and later to the Borromeos, who are still the owners.
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The Visconti Castle of Cherasco is a medieval castle in Cherasco, Piedmont, Northern Italy. It was built in the 14th century by Luchino Visconti, Lord of Milan, and partly reconstructed at the beginning of the 20th century.
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The Visconti-Sforza Castle or Sforza Castle of Galliate is a medieval castle in Galliate, Piedmont, Northern Italy. It was erected in the 15th century by the Sforza, dukes of Milan, on a previous fortification built by their progenitors Visconti.
The Agazzano Castle is a fortification located in Agazzano, in the province of Piacenza. The castle is located on the edge of Agazzano town, not far from the main square, which was intended to be defended by the castle, and it is located in the heart of the Luretta Valley, a short distance from the course of the Luretta creek, at a point of slight elevation difference, where the last hill extensions of the Ligurian Apennines give way to the Po Valley.
The Visconti Castle of Monza was a medieval castle in Monza, Lombardy, northern Italy. Its construction was initiated at the behest of Galeazzo I Visconti in the 14th century. In 1527, a revolt by the citizens of Monza demolished its tallest tower, marking the beginning of the castle's destruction. Today, only a small tower on the Lambro River survives, along with the remains of a drawbridge.
Tabiano Castle is a medieval manor house in the small district of Tabiano Castello, belonging to the municipality of Salsomaggiore Terme, in the province of Parma.