Top 8 Castles around Borgomanero

The castle is located in the center of the village, on a hill overlooking the valley below and part of the town. The presence of a castle or "castrum" is mentioned as early as 1191, but the construction of the current fortress appears to date between 1454-1464 and 1489, that is, between the reign of Filippo Borromeo and that of his sons, Giovanni and Vitaliano. It is known with certainty that in 1493 the building and its grounds were inherited by Ludovico Visconti Borromeo. The old square fortress, on the northern side, features the elegant and solid forms of the original fifteenth-century structure, with beautiful pointed-arch windows softened by terracotta decorations. The castle's current appearance is the result of various renovations over the centuries, the most significant dating back to the eighteenth century. The new reconstruction was commissioned by Giulio Visconti Borromeo Arese.

Spectacular view of the city of Arona and Lake Maggiore

Once you arrive in Arona, walk along the lakeside and have an ice cream, go up to visit the statue of S. Carlone but... don't forget to visit the Rocca too! Founded in a period shortly before the year 1000 under the control of the Lombards, for four centuries the Rocca remained in the hands of the Borromeo family, giving birth to Cardinal San Carlo Borromeo in 1538; the history of the Rocca di Arona ends in 1800 when the Napoleonic army received the order to destroy some fortifications occupied by the Austrians; from that moment on only a few ruins of the Rocca di Arona remain. From above you can also enjoy a spectacular view of Arona below, of Angera opposite and of this entire stretch of lake!

Ottone Visconti, elected archbishop of Milan by Pope Urban IV in 1262, but not by the Major Chapter of the cathedral, was not able to take possession of his seat until 1277, after the victory obtained in Desio over the enemies of the Tower. In 1280, as the owner of Angera – assigned to the Milanese Church since 1162 – he had a Hall of Justice built in the Rocca, where legal and economic matters were administered. With a masterly coup, his nephew and Lord of Milan Matteo Visconti had the archiepiscopal archives (kept in the monastery of S. Radegonda) burned, with the papers regarding the possession of Angera by the Milanese Church, and claimed the inheritance of the place as a personal domain of the Viscontis, by virtue of a legendary descent of their lineage from Angleria. Between 1314 and 1316, Matteo commissioned a local fresco painter, no better known than the Maestro di Angera, to decorate the Hall of Justice with episodes of the victory of Desio and the entry of Ottone Visconti into Milan, taken from an apologetic book written by Stefanardo da Vimercate. Above the stories is the Zodiac, now only partially preserved, but with an iconographic program that can still be reconstructed. When Matteo commissioned the frescoes, the lawyers and judges of the Ambrosian Church no longer met in the Hall, but the Rocca had by then become a private seat. Why did Matteo want to decorate it so expensively? The Hall of Justice is divided into two bays with cross vaults; it is accessed through a door on the south side, in front of which was originally the judge's chair. Each side of the span enclosed two zodiac signs with their respective governing planet in a lunette, framed by a polychrome decoration – which extended to the cordoning of the sails – among the best preserved of the Lombard fourteenth century. Another peculiarity are the monstrous or extravagant figures that surround only the lunette of the second western span, taken from illustrations of naturalistic texts, such as the De natura rerum by Thomas de Cantimpré. https://www.storiadimilano.it/arte/zodiaco_angera.htm

Still very well preserved - great panoramic view

on sunny days, excellent view of Lake Orta

Perfect for a picnic

From the town, a somewhat steep footpath leads upwards. It is marked at the entrance with a red Rocco sign. At the top, in La Corte della Rocchetta, there is the opportunity to eat and drink.