In addition to visiting an enchanting town for its geographical position and the mountain activities that can be done, visiting Santo Stefano d'Aveto means having the possibility of admiring a castle in excellent condition, so we can truly understand the dynamics of a Medieval village.

It seems to have been dropped from on high into the centre of the basin at the base of mount Maggiorasca such is the perfect harmony between its structure and the surrounding environment. The position of the castle was instead intelligently chosen because it allowed control of the roads which, crossing the Apennines, led to Emilia. Some sources date the construction to a period before the 12th century, but unfortunately we do not have enough documentation to confirm this date, even though remains of the original structure have been found. These remains are probably from the renewal that was carried out during the 15th century when the castle was a fundamental control point for the Po roads.

The castle that presents itself now is an interesting pentagonal structure with ramparts on four of the five perimetral corners. In ancient times the arms square could be reached, an area onto which the different rooms on the ground floor open, using drawbridges that were easy to lift in case of attacks.

Some documents come to our aid for the period after the 16th century however. These documents were found in the State Archive of Parma and thanks to them it is possible to speculate on the existence of a castrum, namely a fortified construction for warning or defence. In addition, it seems that the Lords Malaspina had a “domus” for the village administration operations, namely a residential home and a defence tower to control the traffic going to and coming from Lombardy or Emilia. This castrum, which was merged over time into the dominions of the Republic of Genoa, no longer in its original form but already equipped with a ravelin that simplified defence, was then restructured into the shape we can now enjoy.

A castle, the events of which are surrounded by a sort of mystery because of the lack of documents that speak of it. This is the story of Santo Stefano d'Aveto castle. Visit it and, thanks to the audioguide 2 you can listen to its story!
http://www.liguriaheritage.it

Castle of Santo Stefano d'Aaveto

Account

by category

Login

Name

by region

Title

Name in English

Castello di Compiano is a castle in on the top of Compiano's hill, in the province of Parma, northern Italy.

History
It is believed to have been built in the early Middles Ages by the Lombards, on the road which links the neighbouring Emilia and Liguria. It first belonged to the Malaspina family, then to the Commune of Piacenza and, finally, to the Landi family which ruled the area for 425 consecutive years, eventually forming a small independent principality, the Landi State.

Between the 16th and the 17th centuries, Compiano was in its prime, and minted its own currency, opened state schools and started a pawn system. In the 18th century Compiano passed from the Farnese to the Borbone family, and was then annexed to the realm of Maria Luigia of Austria, then Duchess of Parma, who used the castle as a State prison for Carbonari captives in 1821.

Before World War II it was used as a girl's orphanage. After the war ended, the school was closed down and the castle was bought by Marchioness Lina Raimondi Gambarotta who, after her death in 1987, left it to the Compiano's Municipality.

Built on a rocky spur which dominates the river Taro, the castle is similar to a projection from the surrounding fortified walls.

Compiano Masonic Museum
Since July 2002, the castle hosts the International Masonic Museum Orizzonti Massonici, the only museum of this kind in Italy. The three rooms dedicated to this museum contain precious relics, such as medallions, paintings, and honours belonging to the British Masonic symbolism used in the 18th and 19th Century; one of the rooms, called room 33, holds various Italian relics and objects displayed by the Italian Masonic association Grande Oriente d'Italia - Palazzo Giustiniani.

Castello of Compiano

Il castello Fieschi è stato un edificio militare e difensivo di Varese Ligure, in provincia della Spezia, situato in piazza Castello. Edificato dai conti Fieschi nel medioevo, il castello andò a completare quella nuova opera urbanistica avviata dai feudatari fliscani nel centro varesino e che venne denominata "Borgo Rotondo", per la sua forma ellittica, una sorta di "cittadella fortificata".
Cenni storici
Le esigenze che portarono alla nascita del castello fliscano sono legate a due importanti fattori: il controllo di un'importante via di comunicazione, e di scambi commerciali, tra la costa levantina e l'appennino ligure emiliano, e gli eventi bellici che interessarono questa parte dell'alta val di Vara.

La soluzione fu la creazione di un nuovo borgo fortificato che, con forma ellittica, avrebbe chiuso la piazza centrale circondandosi con uguali case in pietra lungo il perimetro, al di sotto delle quali vi si aprivano i portici per le attività lavorative, e collegate con la principale strada mediana attraverso stretti vicoli, assicurandosi così una buona ed efficace cortina difensiva. Nella parte settentrionale del cosiddetto "Borgo Rotondo", così viene denominato localmente, a chiusura del centro fortificato, si realizzò quindi un primo palazzo che divenne la residenza dei Fieschi in Varese Ligure.

Dopo già due tentativi di assedio nel XV secolo, il borgo di Varese cadde sotto la spedizione militare del capitano di ventura Niccolò Piccinino, al servizio del duca di Milano Filippo Maria Visconti contro i Fieschi. È in questo periodo che venne realizzata, nel 1435, la torre alta di offesa, originariamente munita di ponte levatoio e considerata tra le più moderne e avanzate per gli armamenti bellici dell'epoca; alla costruzione della "torre del Piccinino" contribuirono maestranze dalla Lunigiana, già artefici dell'edificazione della torre del castello del Piagnaro di Pontremoli.

La seconda torre, più bassa e di forma cilindrica con base a scarpa, fu invece realizzata sotto la dominazione dei Landi tra il 1472 e il 1478-1479.

La proprietà feudale dei Fieschi crollò definitivamente nel 1547 con la fallita Congiura di Gianluigi Fieschi contro i Doria che, di fatto, spianò la strada alla Repubblica di Genova per il controllo del territorio e dei vari possedimenti feudali. Istituita la podesteria di Varese l'ex residenza fliscana, dopo le nuove modifiche alla struttura come la realizzazione dei finestroni nella torre dei Landi e forse un abbassamento del torrione, divenne la sede del podestà locale e delle carceri.

Dopo altri usi nel corso dei secoli il castello, restaurato negli anni sessanta del Novecento su direzione della Soprintendenza ai Monumenti della Liguria, è oggi di proprietà comunale e sede per ospitare mostre, convegni e manifestazioni.

Castello di Varese Ligure

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

Castello di Torriglia

From its position on that sheer outcrop of red jasper, the rocca or fort, looms imperiously over the burgh and valley below. With its sturdy curtain wall, embattled parapet-walks, guard towers, and castle keep, the fort is a fine example of medieval siege architecture (13th – 14th century), though what we see today is the result of layered modifications applied over the centuries.

The interiors are arranged around a broad outer bailey, or central court, which is accessed via the gate house. The residential section houses the Museo della civiltà valligiana, a small museum with tools and articles of daily local use dating back to 19th and early 20th century.

The main hall is bordered on the north and west sides by a series of intercommunicating rooms known as the Princess’ Halls, which have retained some of the late Gothic coffered ceilings, grotesques and grisailles wall paintings executed in mid-16th century. From one of these rooms it is possible to descend in the Womens garden, a hanging garden added at a later date.

From the well courtyard is the access to the granaries and the stalwart keep, the original nucleus of the fort, later turned into a prison. In the 16th century arcaded courtyard stand the remains of the little chapel installed by the Landi princes. The artillery fortification, commissioned by Manfredo Landi il Magnifico in the 15th century, recently restored, is now available for visits.

The castle is accessible for disabled people only partially or accompanied by a guardian. Pets are allowed.

http://www.parmacityofgastronomy.it