The medieval castle complex of Pietra is located at the edge of the village of Calliano in the Vallagarina valley. The different styles of the building prove that it was extended, rebuilt and restored several times over the centuries. The Gothic style is predominant, inside there are still some valuable medieval treasures, such as the “Sala del Giudizio”, the courtroom with its impressive fresco cycle from the 15th century (1468-1478), which shows scenes from life at court.

Pietra Castle was built as an outpost for Beseno Castle, which rises above it. It owes its name to the fact that it is located on a large cliff edge, the remains of a huge landslide: the Italian word “pietra” means “stone”. Built in a strategic position, it was situated at the border between the county of Tyrol and the Venetian Republic until the 16th century. This area was the scene of battles that went down in history, such as the Battle of Calliano on the 10th of August 1487 or the meeting of Austrian and French troops under Napoleon at the end of the 18th century.

Pietra Castle has been owned by the same family since 1738 and can be visited. Also events take place there.

https://www.trentino.com

Castel Pietra

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Castel Beseno, near Rovereto, is the largest feudal fortress all over the Trentino region.

Those travelling from Rovereto to the city of Trento across the Vallagarina valley, will be immediately attracted by the majestic fortress on the hill near to Folgaria. Here on this strategically so important place towers Trentino’s largest fortress, referred to as Castel Beseno. First written documents date back to the 12th century, when the castle still belonged to the counts of Appiano and served as a residence to the aristocratic family Da Beseno.

In the following years and centuries, the castle witnessed a rather turbulent history. In 1470 it was handed over to the counts Trapp, a noble family from Styria affiliated with the Austrian emperor. Soon the castle had to be rennovated due to a fire and the medieval castle turned into a residence. Threatened by decay, the castle was given to the Province of Trento, rennovated and made a remote seat of the Castello del Buonconsiglio Museum.

Two mighty elliptical walls featuring a length of 250 and a width of 55 metres surround the castle. Worth seeing are also the dark castle gate, the drawbridge, the crenels and the arena.
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Castel Beseno

It is due to Venetian aristocrats that the castle got its so characteristic polygonal shape. The guard’s walkways, the moat, the keeps, the bow ram and the mighty bastion render the building one of the best examples of late-medieval fortresses all over the Alpine region.

The castle was built in the 14th century by the noble Castelbarco family, who in 1509 handed it over to the Habsburgs. While it became an asylum for homeless people and a penal institution in early 19th century, it served as a military seat from 1859 to 1918. During World War I, both the castle and the town of Rovereto were occupied by Austrian troops and thus merciless shelled by the Italian artillery.

Since 1921 the castle has been housing the Italian Museum of War. More than 30 halls tell everything about Italy’s past and even about the castles of the Vallagarina valley.

https://www.trentino.com

Castello di Rovereto

Castel Noarna is located in a strategic position on Vallagarina, surrounded by vineyards. Its origin must probably date back to the VI-VII century. as a Roman fortification point, while the first documents concerning the fortress of Castelnuovo di Noarna date back to 1177.

The lords who resided here took the name from the castle itself and were the owners of it at that time the scene of numerous clashes between Guelphs and Ghibellines. At that time the fief of the Castelnuovo already included the countries of Noarna, Pomarolo and Castellano. At the end of 1200 the Castelnuovo family declined and the manor passed to the Castelbarco family, one of the most important families of the Principality of Trento. In 1486 it became a possession of the Lodron family, after a long dispute with the Calstelbarco, which also involved the Republic of Venice, who supported the new owners to guarantee support in the valley.

After a few years, precisely in 1646, the chronicles report a famous "witch trial" that involved dozens of people from all the countries of Vallagarine and survived for over a year and arrived, after numerous tortures, to be condemned by beheading and subsequent stake of 5 women.

The Castle assumed its current appearance under the possession of Londron, which refined the defensive fortification to make it a noble residence: new residential areas added to the existing and the interiors embellished with frescoes. Since 1974 the Castle belongs to the Zani family, historical hoteliers from Trentino who have implemented and modernized the wine vocation of the territories surrounding the manor. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Blanc, Merlot, Gewürztraminer, Lagrein, Nosiola, Riesling are cultivated.

The Castle is open for guided tours and tastings of the wines produced.

Castel Noarna

Castel Noarna

The Castle of Castellano (Italian: Castello di Castellano, German: Schloss Kastellein) is a manor house built around 1000, located in the village of Castellano, in the municipality of Villa Lagarina, in Trentino.

It is one of the most famous castles of Vallagarina, offering a panorama of the entire valley. Owned by numerous noble families, of which the most important was the Lodron, it was later transformed into an Austrian-Hungarian fortress in World War I.

It once housed frescoes, now preserved in the Civic Museum of Rovereto.

Castle of Castellano


The tower around which the Castello della Torre was built served as a guard post over the road leading from the Rocchetta Pass into the Val di Non valley.

The actual castle palace dates back to the 16th century. At that time the tower and its building were bought by Sigmund Spaur who surrounded the complex with two walls and added two turrets. Also a prison, still preserved today, was added to the castle. Monsignor Gianmichele, heir of the dynasty and archbishop of Trento, modernised the castle and built a little chapel dedicated to S. Apollonia in 1619.

After numerous changes of ownership, the castle is a residence today and not open to the public.

https://www.trentino.com

Castello della Torre

At the foot of Castel Drena, which dominates the deep gorge of Rio Sallagoni, visible from the high crenellated tower, lies the striking Marocche desert, created by a peculiar glacial phenomenon that produced a field of boulders for a total of 187 million cubic metres.

Built during the 13th century, Castel Drena possibly stands over a prehistoric village. Its strategic location made it the subject of continuous disputes in the Middle Ages, since it blocked and controlled the only viable passage.

Impervious to fire, defended by two tiers of walls and built on the rock in a dominant position, the castle was impregnable with the assault means used at the time. The building’s style is essentially Romanesque, with some Gothic elements and a few 16th century structures.

The remains of a small church dedicated to St. Martin, a cult that followed the Franks expansion, document that the area was actively frequented already in the Carolingian period (9th- 10th century).

https://www.visittrentino.info

Castel Drena

Castel Madruzzo

Arco Castle (Italian: Castello di Arco, German: Schloss Arch) is a ruined castle located on a prominent spur high above Arco and the Sarca Valley in Trentino, northern Italy.
History
The exact date of its foundation is unknown but it existed at least after the year 1000 AD. The area around Arco was inhabited already before the Middle Ages, the castle was said to have been built by the citizens and only later becoming the property of the local nobles.
The counts of Arco (from Latin arcus, 'bow'), probably of Italian origin (a presumed kinship with the Bavarian counts of Bogen could not be established), were first mentioned in 1124 deed; they temporarily served as liensmen of the Trent prince-bishops. Though they were raised to comital (Grafen) status by the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II in 1221, they had to acknowledge the overlordship of the Meinhardiner princely counts of Tyrol in 1272.

The Counts of Arco were expelled by the Prince-Bishops of Trent in 1349, whereafter the castle fell to the Veronese noble house of Scaliger. Nevertheless, they regained the castle in a local uprising, and in 1413 further strengthened their position by obtaining the status of Imperial immediacy from the hands of Emperor Sigismund in 1413. However, in the long run, they could not prevail against the mighty House of Habsburg, rulers of Tyrol since 1363. Arco Castle was captured in 1579, and the counts had to submit to the Habsburgs in 1614. Their estates were officially seized by Emperor Leopold I in 1680.

The castle was later abandoned after a siege by French troops under General Duke Louis Joseph of Vendôme in the course of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1703. A careful restoration began 1986 and following others in more recent years restorations have found a number of frescoes depicting knights and court ladies of medieval times.

Arco Castle

Buonconsiglio Castle (Italian: Castello del Buonconsiglio) is a castle in Trento, northern Italy.
History
The castle originated from a fortified building that was erected in the 13th century next to the city's walls. This first building was called Castelvecchio ("Old Castle"), and was the seat of the Bishopric of Trent from the 13th century onwards to the end of the 18th century. The castle is composed of a series of buildings of different eras, enclosed by a circle of walls in a slightly elevated position above the town. The, as called, Castelvecchio is the oldest and most dominant building of the entire housing development. The Magno Palazzo is the sixteenth expansion in the forms of the Italian Renaissance, wanted by the Prince Bishop and Cardinal Bernardo Clesio (1485-1539), the third part, in the southern end of the complex is the known Eagle tower, which preserves the famous Cycle of the Months, one of the most fascinating pictorial cycles of profane late Middle Ages.

Bishop George of Liechtenstein was the first to enlarge the castle, in the late 14th century, turning it into a well-styled residence. The Castelvecchio was further modified by Johannes Hinderbach, who had the double loggia Gothic entrance gate built. In the first decades of the 16th century, Bishop Bernardo Clesio had a new residence, called Palazzo Magno ("Grand Palace") built in Renaissance style alongside the old castle. The last great addition was the so-called Giunta Albertiana, from the name of Bishop Francesco Alberti Poja (1686), with which the Castelvecchio and the Palazzo Magno were united

The castle remained the seat of the Prince-Bishops until 1803. Used by the Austrians as military barracks and, later, as a jail, it decayed. In the 1920s, when Trento was returned to Italy, it became seat of a National Museum and was restored. Since 1992 it is home to the Provincial Gallery of Art.

According to legend, it was connected by a secret tunnel to the city's cathedral, which allowed the prince-bishops to move unseen between them.

Buonconsiglio Castle

Would you like to relive the feelings of the great German poet Goethe when he first looked out over Lake Garda? This trek follows in his footsteps on the historic Strada di Santa Lucia trail with the addition of an interesting stop-off to visit the ruins of Castel Penede

Author’s recommendation
Can you imagine massive Venetian galleys being hauled over the mountains? Well, in 1439, this is precisely what happened. Brescia, an ally of Venice, was under threat from the Milanese troops and intervention was needed in their defence. The Venetians sailed up the River Adige with 25 boats and 6 galleys which were dismantled and transported with the help of 2000 oxen to the port of Torbole, passing through the Santa Lucia valley. In 1440 the little fleet defeated the Milanese and liberated Riva del Garda.

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