Itineraries


The origins of the castle of Vigevano are uncertain; some documents dating back to the year 1000 already mention a castle in Vigevano, but probably it referred to a modest city wall including the original village of "Vicogeboin". The present aspect is the result of lots of works and transformations starting in about 1300: the first by the Torrianis, then by the Viscontis and, when the castle became the dukes' residence, by the Sforzas. Between 1341 and 1347, when Luchino Visconti was the protector of Vigevano and duke of Milan, the four sided keep, the fortress of Belreguardo (now Rocca Vecchia) and the Roofed Road were built; the latter planned by Giacomo da Cozzo and Giovanni da Ferrara connected the Castle with the Fortress overpassing the village houses. The works went on later with Galeazzo Maria Sforza and, above all, with Ludovico il Moro, who made good use by Donato Bramante's and Leonardo da Vinci's work to turn the Visconti donjon into a fair ducal residence provided with charming falconries, suggestive loggias for ladies and great stables. The Sforzas' period ended in 1535 when Francesco II died. Vigevano passed under direct Spanish domination and the Castle was no longer a princely residence. Turned into barracks in 1714, it underwent heavy tamperings. The moat surrounding the donjon was filled with earth and the "revellino" (small defensive tower) with the drawbridge dividing it from the rest of the yard was demolished. In the years from1857 to1867 the keep and the fronts of the stables were considerably tampered by the introduction of neo-gothic elements. The visit Entering the Castle yard from the tower hall, you reach the immense square where until the first half of the fourteenth century were clustered the old medieval houses. The stables which close it on the right consist in three two-floor buildings following each other with their faìades decorated with what remains of the '400 graffito. The first stable known as long sleeve was built by Ludovico il Moro in 1490 for the horses of his -beloved nephew Gian Galeazzo+. The proportions of this cross vaulted building are wonderful: it is 92 metres long and 12 wide, and is divided into three parts by three rows of columns with fairly decorated bases and capitals. The grooms' and the pages' lodgings were on the upper floor. Leonardo's "polita stalla" (clean stable) of the Tivulziano Code and of Ms. B comes undoubtedly to the mind. This stable is followed by the second one, 46 x 9 mt, built by Duke Galeazzo Maria in 1473: it has a nave and two aisles too and rests on columns as the one before. The carriage gateway leading into the Castle yard which breaks the continuity of these buildings is the result of an irrational neo-gothic modification made after 1857 by colonel Inverardi. The third stable, the smallest, shows clearly it was built by the Sforzas on a pre-existing building. As the previous ones it is divided into a nave and two ailses resting on thin columns with capitals which are less precise than those of the former stables. The Falconry leans against the third stable; it was probably built in 1300, and it was remade by Bramante in 1492. Passing under the Falconry you go into a small yard from where a charming roofed ramp climbs to the Falconry and the "Pontile", an aerial passage of clear Bramante's style; this passage connects the Falconry to the Ducal Palace. The Donjon is the most imposing building of all the Castle and dates back to the middle of the fourteenth century when it was made up of three bodies: a central one (doubled in the Sforzas+ period for static reasons) and two sleeves turning towards the main yard. Till the middle of 1700 it was separated from the rest of the "piazzone" (large square) by a moat and a high massive wall with a central "revellino" (small tower) and a drawbridge. You can still notice the supports of this wall on the sides of the two lateral parts. In 1700 a ghibelline tamponato and roofed battlement crowned the building. Later on the building underwent different remakings and modifications: the walls were thickened and the windows decorated and moulded in brickwork. After 1857 Colonel Inverardi, already mentioned above, heavily modified the front, probably after some collapses had made the building stability precarious. On this occasion some brickwork pilaster strips were added on the front and some windows were relocated after the suppression of the wooden grand staircase that on the left side led up to the noble floors. In the same period other windows in Tudor style were created to lighten the new rooms obtained when the roof was made higher. From the portal situated in the left corner of the front of the main part of the castle you go into the "Roofed Road", 164 metres long and 7,30 wide, which overpassing the "Portone" (big gate) and the houses below, connects the Castle with what remains of the ancient "Rocca Vecchia" (old fortress) built by Luchino Visconti and destroyed during the Sforzas' siege of 1449. On the sediment of the "Rocca" there is the "Cavallerizza" (riding place), a very wide trussed shed built in 1836 to lodge the cavalry squadrons of the Sardinian army. When you come back to the Castle through the Roofed Road please notice the back of the Castle (on the left): it has two rows of windows more than the main front: this depends on the difference of level existing between the Castle yard and this side. Worth attention is also the "Loggia delle Dame" (Ladies' Loggia), certainly ascribed to Bramante; at the end of 1700 it had been walled and made higher for military reasons. The lower lovely yard that climbed up to the Loggia was unfortunately demolished and dug out in the last century. Come back to the "piazzone" and notice, on the left, the Sforza buildings that are united to the Tower: they were made one floor higher in 1872 and are known as "ex Circolo Ufficiali".

Back	Home