Visconti Castle (Vercelli)

Last updated
Visconti Castle (Vercelli)
Castello Visconteo di Vercelli
Vercelli, Piedmont, Northern Italy
Castello Vercelli del sudest.jpg
Front of the castle
Italy North location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Visconti Castle (Vercelli)
Coordinates 45°19′40.66″N8°25′33.35″E / 45.3279611°N 8.4259306°E / 45.3279611; 8.4259306
Type Medieval castle
Site information
Owner Italian State
Open to
the public
Only for its public office functions
ConditionGood
Site history
Builtaround 1290
Built by Matteo Visconti
Materials Bricks

The Visconti Castle of Vercelli is a medieval castle in Vercelli, Piedmont, Northern Italy. Erected at the end of the 13th century, it underwent subsequent transformation to be changed in its use. Today it is the seat of the Tribunal of Vercelli. [1]

Contents

History

The Visconti of Milan took control of Vercelli at the end of the 13th century, during their initial expansion outside Milan. [2] Around 1290, Matteo Visconti ordered the construction of the castle, probably on a previous building's ruins. [3]

It had the classic layout of the Visconti castles of the Lombardy plains: quadrangular, with square towers at each corner, two entrances on opposite sides, and an internal courtyard. Another small door ("pusterla") was in the south-eastern corner. An inner wing ("rocchetta") leaned on the southern side. The castle's primary purpose was to show a sign of the Visconti's power over Vercelli. Being along the city's wall, it also reinforced its defense to the south. [3]

In 1427 the Visconti handed over Vercelli to Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy. The castle became a seat of the House of Savoy and came to be known as Savoy Castle. The blessed Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy died there in 1472. Yolande of Valois, her widow, had it restored and enlarged.

In the following centuries, the castle declined. As a military building, it was no longer useful, and, as civil work, it became unsuitable compared to other residences of the Savoy house. At the time of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), it was damaged during the Spanish siege in 1638. The people of Vercelli had the castle repaired to the best of their ability. Vercelli's governors continued to live there during the Napoleonic age. In 1832, the Vercelli prison moved there.

In the 20th century, further adaptations and reparations transformed the building into the Vercelli Tribunal seat. The restorations ended in 1931. They consisted of the reconstruction of the collapsed towers, the erection of a new one on the right side of the facade, the addition of internal bodies, and the reopening of the seventeenth-century arcades on the ground floor and first floor. The works rebuilt the original southern gate, with a wooden bridge over the moat, and the pusterla in the south-eastern corner. [4]

Today

The castle is open only from the outside. Being used as Tribunal, it is accessible internally only for its state functions. [4]

The castle seen from the south-west corner Castello Vercelli del sudovest.jpg
The castle seen from the south-west corner

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asti</span> Comune in Piedmont, Italy

Asti is a comune (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italian region of Piedmont, about 55 kilometres east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed to be the modern capital of Montferrat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castello Sforzesco</span> Castle in Milan, Italy

The Castello Sforzesco is a medieval fortification located in Milan, Northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

Bianca of Savoy was Lady of Milan by marriage to Galeazzo II Visconti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocca Borromeo di Angera</span> Building in Angera, Italy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Bereguardo)</span> Castle in northern Italy

The Visconti Castle of Bereguardo, Castello Visconteo of Bereguardo in Italian, is a medieval castle in Via Castello 2, Bereguardo, Province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Pandino)</span> Castle in Pandino, Lombardy, Brazil

The Visconti Castle in Pandino is a 14th-century castle located in the center of the town of Pandino, province of Cremona, region of Lombardy, Italy. It was built by Bernabò Visconti and his wife, Beatrice Regina della Scala, between 1355 and 1361. Today it essentially retains its original forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Trezzo sull'Adda)</span>

The Visconti Castle of Trezzo was a mediaeval castle built between 1370 and 1377 by Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, at Trezzo sull’Adda, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It included a massive tower, 42-meter high, and a fortified bridge on the Adda river on a single arch with a record 72-meter span.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Cusago)</span>

The Visconti Castle, or Castello Visconteo, is a castle in the town of Cusago near Milan, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built in the 14th century by Bernabò Visconti and used as a hunting lodge by him and other Visconti family members. The castle underwent significant changes in the Renaissance period; today, it is in neglected conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Abbiategrasso)</span> Castle in northern Italy

The Visconti Castle of Abbiategrasso is a medieval castle in Abbiategrasso, Lombardy, northern Italy. It was among the first Visconti castles built according to their typical quadrangular layout. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it was one of the preferred residences of the duchesses of Milan of the Visconti and Sforza houses. Today, the castle's surviving part serves as the seat of the municipality of Abbiategrasso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Binasco)</span>

The Visconti Castle of Binasco is a mediaeval castle located in Binasco, Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is famous for having been the prison and execution place of Beatrice di Tenda, arrested and there sentenced to death for adultery in 1418. Today it is the seat of the Municipality of Binasco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Lodi)</span>

The Visconti Castle of Lodi is a historical building in Lodi, Lombardy, northern Italy. As it appears today, it is the result of transformations made on a Middle Age castle founded in the 12th century by Frederick Barbarossa. Its name derives from the Visconti family, lords and dukes of Milan, who in the 13th and 14th centuries took possession of and then rebuilt the original fortification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Fagnano Olona)</span>

The Visconti Castle of Fagnano is a castle located in Fagnano Olona, Lombardy, northern Italy. It lies at the border between the town of Fagnano and the Olona valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Legnano)</span>

The Visconti Castle of Legnano is a mediaeval castle, located south of the city of Legnano, Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. It lies on a small island formed by the Olona river. Since the 13th century, it is also known as the castle of San Giorgio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Voghera)</span>

The Visconti Castle of Voghera is a Medieval castle in Voghera, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built in the 14th century by the Visconti, lords and dukes of Milan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Cherasco)</span> Castle in northern Italy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Vogogna)</span> Castle in northern Italy

The Visconti Castle of Vogogna is a medieval stone-made castle in Vogogna, Piedmont, Northern Italy. It was built in the 14th century by the Visconti, lords and dukes of Milan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti-Sforza Castle (Galliate)</span> Castle in northern Italy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Pavia)</span> Medieval castle in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy

The Visconti Castle of Pavia is a medieval castle in Pavia, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built after 1360 in a few years by Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan, and used as a sovereign residence by him and his son Gian Galeazzo, first duke of Milan. Its wide dimensions induced Petrarch, who visited Pavia in the fall of 1365, to call it "an enormous palace in the citadel, a truly remarkable and costly structure". Adjacent to the castle, the Visconti created a vast walled park that reached the Certosa di Pavia, a Carthusian monastery founded in 1396 by the Visconti as well and located about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Rocca (Romano di Lombardia)</span> Castle in northern Italy

The Visconti Rocca of Romano is a rocca in Romano di Lombardia, Bergamo, Lombardy in Northern Italy. It was built in the 13th century and expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries by the Visconti and Colleoni families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avigliana castle</span> 10th century hilltop castle at the mouth of the Susa Valley in Piedmont, Italy

Avigliana Castle is one of the oldest castles in Piedmont. Now just a ruin, it is located in Avigliana at the mouth of the Susa Valley, 25 km from Turin.

References

  1. Conti (1975) , pp. 66–67
  2. Black (2009) , p. 38
  3. 1 2 Conti (1975) , p. 66
  4. 1 2 Conti (1975) , p. 67

Sources