Castello Brown is a house museum located high above the harbour of Portofino, Italy.

The castle's site is well suited for harbour defence, and appears to have been so used since the 15th century. According to the Record Office of Genoa, cannon batteries were constructed on the site in the early 16th century, and military engineer Giovanni Maria Olgiati [it] drew up plans for a full fortress circa 1554. The resultant castello was completed by 1557, and, in 1575, was instrumental in turning back an attack on the town by Giò Andrea Doria. The structure was enlarged from 1622 to 1624, and survived in this form for a century and a half. The little tower was destroyed in 1798 by an English attack during Napoleon's Ligurian Republic. The castello was abandoned after the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

In 1867, the structure was purchased for 7,000 lire by Montague Yeats-Brown, then English consul in Genoa. He engaged the architect Alfredo D'Andrade [it], and with advice from his artist friend and fellow-consul James Harris the fort was transformed to a comfortable villa without substantial alteration in its general form.[1] His descendants held the property until 1949, then sold it to an English couple, Colonel and Mrs. John Baber, who restored several ruined sections, until they in turn sold it in 1961 to the City of Portofino.

Elizabeth von Arnim wrote her book The Enchanted April at the castello in 1922. The 1992 movie was also filmed there.

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The Castello di Santa Margherita Ligure is a 16th-century fortress in Santa Margherita Ligure, within the Metropolitan City of Genoa in Italy.
History
The fortress is located at the foot of a hill on which the Villa Durazzo-Centurione [it] now stands. It was built following a resolution by the Senate of the Republic of Genoa in 1550, and it was meant to defend against raids from the Barbary pirates. It was designed by Antonio de Càrabo, who was also responsible for the construction of the Castello di Rapallo [it]

Construction began in 1550 and it was completed by September of the same year. Various structural interventions and armament upgrades took place until the early 17th century. After pirate attacks ceased in the 18th century, the fort lost its military importance and only some repair and maintenance works were undertaken.

In the 19th century, there were plans to demolish the building twice: first to build a new municipal building after Rapallo was established as an independent municipality, and then to enlarge the adjacent Calata Vittorio Emanuele. It was restored after World War I and it was dedicated in the memory of the fallen in that war.

Castello di Santa Margherita Ligure 

The Castello di Punta Pagana is a 17th-century fort located on the homonymous Punta Pagana, within the grounds of Villa Pagana in Rapallo, within the Metropolitan City of Genoa in Italy. It is located west of San Michele di Pagana, close to the boundary with Santa Margherita Ligure. The fort was originally built by the Republic of Genoa, and today it belongs to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta along with the rest of the villa.

Together with the Castello di Santa Margherita Ligure to the west and the Castello di Rapallo [it] to the east, it formed part of the Genoese coastal defence system for the protection of villages on the western Tigullio gulf.

History
Construction of the fort began in April 1625 by the Republic of Genoa, the capitaneati of Rapallo, Recco, Chiavari and the podesterie of Moneglia and Sestri Levante. Its construction became necessary due to the open hostilities between Genoa and Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, which raised fears of a Piedmontese land or sea attack.

The fort cost over 50,000 lire, and construction work progressed rapidly thanks to new taxes that allowed for the purchase of the material and paying workers' salaries. Construction was well underway by December 1625, and the moat and drawbridge were ready by 1627. The fort was fully completed and commissioned by the Republic of Genoa on 28 July 1631. It was armed with enough weapons, ammunition and gunpowder for a sudden attack.

Fortunately for the inhabitants of the nearby village of San Michele di Pagana, the area was never attacked by pirates or enemy soldiers and the fort never saw use. In 1644, the Genoese senate ordered the castellan to abandon the fort and send all military equipment inside on a galley to Genoa.


Part of the fort's walls.
The castle was subsequently garrisoned by local soldiers, and it became the headquarters of the Commissariato di Sanità di Rapallo (Health Commissariat of Rapallo). The Bombardment of Genoa by the French fleet in 1684 caused fears of another attack, so the fort was rearmed. However, no attacks occurred, and the fort was finally abandoned in 1705. It later became private property, forming part of the grounds of the nearby Villa Pagana.

The fort has belonged to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta since 1959, when the last owner of the villa passed on the entire property to the Order.

Castello di Punta Pagana 

Il castello sul mare è una postazione difensiva di Rapallo, nella città metropolitana di Genova, eretta a difesa dello specchio acqueo presso il lungomare Vittorio Veneto. È detto anche castello medievale con una definizione errata poiché la costruzione risale solo alla seconda metà del XVI secolo.

All'interno è presente anche una piccola cappella dedicata a san Gaetano costruita nel 1688 con la caratteristica cupoletta con campana, ben visibile all'esterno del castello.

È il simbolo della cittadina rapallese ed è stato dichiarato monumento nazionale italiano dal Ministero dei Beni Culturali.
L'edificazione del castello di Rapallo è legata ai fatti storici che interessarono l'allora borgo marinaro il 4 luglio del 1549. Quel giorno Rapallo subì l'assalto e il saccheggio da parte del pirata turco Dragut che, oltre ai danni provocati dallo sbarco in tre punti diversi della costa, culminò con il rapimento di ventidue fanciulle del luogo, in seguito fatte schiave dai pirati saraceni ad Algeri.

La Rapallo della seconda metà del XVI secolo non disponeva di un'adeguata difesa di mura e le uniche postazioni difensive erano costituite dalle torri di avvistamento poste sulle alture e dalle alte case nella zona della marina. Lo sbarco, che avvenne nell'oscurità notturna, fu pertanto rapido e facile per la flotta dell'ammiraglio turco.

Assoggettato al dominio della Repubblica di Genova (alleata e protettrice di Rapallo dopo l'atto di dedizione della comunità rapallese nel 1229), le truppe genovesi e quelle locali (queste ultime di numero esiguo) nulla poterono contro i pirati arrivati dal mare. Genova tuttavia incaricò il capitano Gregorio Roisecco, comandante delle truppe arrivate da Genova, di valutare la situazione difensiva del borgo rapallese. Questi suggerì alla comunità (e alla repubblica) l'edificazione di un castello o di una postazione difensiva per il controllo di questa parte occidentale del golfo del Tigullio.

Castello di Rapallo 

Castello della Dragonara, known also as the Castel Dragone, is a castle in Camogli, located in Via Isola, near the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.
According to some historical sources, the castle was probably built in the first half of the 13th century. In the second half of the 14th century, the castle, to ensure the safety of the fishing village of Camogli, was repeatedly reinforced, receiving the necessary weapons from the Republic of Genoa.
In the 14th century, the Dragonara Castle was attacked several times. Well documented are the assaults made by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, and the one made by Nicolò Fieschi in 1366.

Between 1428 and 1430, the castle was considerably enlarged and reinforced, especially the adjacent watchtower. In 1438, the Duchy of Milan besieged the castle, destroying its walls. A few years later, the inhabitants of the seaside village built new walls around the castle.

In 1448, due to a conflict between Camogli, Recco and Genoa, the Republic demanded the immediate destruction of the castle. The castle was destroyed, but it was rebuilt again only six years later and given to the Doge of Genoa.

In the 16th century, the castle was abandoned as a defensive post, and it was used as a prison.

In the seventies of the 20th century, after decades of neglect, the building was recovered and converted into an aquarium, hosting specimens of the marine fauna typical of these waters. At the closing of the aquarium, the fish were transferred to the Genoa aquarium.

https://www.italyscapes.com

the Dragonara Castle

Chiavari Castle (Castello di Chiavari) is an ancient fortification in Chiavari, Province of Genoa, Italy.

History
The castle was built after the convention of perpetual league signed on 1138 between Genoa and Fieschi. The construction started on 1140 and finished probably on 1147. It is one of the first castle erected in the Italian Riviera, over a hill dominating and defending a seafaring village, called Clavai, today Chiavari.

In 1172 the castle was besieged by Opizzone Malaspina, while in 1278 it fell into the hands of Moruello and Alberto Fieschi hands, allied for the conquest of the castle, but just for eight days.

During the first half of the 14th century it was rebuilt several times because of violent battles between the Guelfs and Ghibellines and in that century the village was further fortified by a heavy surrounding wall accessible through seven doors and defended by fourteen towers. Nowadays it is quite easy to see the ruins of the ancient wall of the ancient village of Chiavari.

Castello di Chiavari

The Mackenzie Castle (Italian: Castello Mackenzie) is a historical manor in the Castelletto quarter of Genoa, northern Italy. It is an example of Gothic Revival architecture.

History
The castle was built on a pre-existing country villa, in turn located on the site of the 16th century Genoese walls.

Built in 1893-1905, it was designed in Gothic revival style by Art Nouveau architect Gino Coppedè under commission by Evan Mackenzie, an insurance broker, whose family lived here for 26 years.

In 1956 it was declared a national monument. Thirty years later it was acquired by American collector Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. The restoration works he commissioned remained unfinished, and in 2002 the castle was sold to the Cambi auction house which commissioned the restoration to architect Gianfranco Franchini. The manor was opened to the public in 2004 and is now used as a public space for scientific or cultural exhibitions.

The Mackenzie Castle

The first information we have of Torriglia dates back to 972 but it is not about its castle. In that year Emperor Otto I also granted possession of the court of Torriglia to the abbey of Bobbio.
Thanks to this document we know that Torriglia was a “curtis”, therefore a series of plots of land probably with a small village in the centre. It was considered strategic by the abbey of Bobbio, which on the other hand controlled practically all the crossroads between the Tyrrhenian sea and the Po Valley of East and Central Liguria. We also know that a castle probably did not exist yet or, even better, no longer existed.

Visit Torriglia Castle and listen to the Torriglia audioguide 1 . We will take you back in the Summer of 972 AD, to Sant’Ambrogio in Milan, where you will discover the importance of that document for the story of Torriglia, and why the castle is no more.

http://www.liguriaheritage.it