Italy
Belgioioso Castle is a monument located in Belgioioso, a few kilometers from Pavia.
In 1376, Galeazzo II Visconti, co-lord of Milan and lord of Pavia, purchased from Lanterio de Cazabove of Pavia a castle, equipped with a tower and ricetto, in Belgioioso.
The present castle was probably rebuilt by Galeazzo II in the second half of the 14th century in an extensive Visconti property in the territory where the town of Belgioioso later arose. The name "Zoioso" was perhaps given to the castle because of the amenity of the place and the happiness that staying there must once have brought. The area where the castle was built was close to the Via Francigena and a large forest, which went (south of the castle) as far as the bank of the Po, near the Chiesa di San Giacomo della Cerreta della Cerreta and the important port of Pissarello, known in the Middle Ages as the "Porcaria valley" because of the large number of wild boar in the dense oak forests.
The new Visconti castle, conceived as a hunting lodge, echoes the ad quadratum layout (without the corner towers) and monumental dimensions (each side is about 100 meters long) of the castle in Pavia, the seat of the court of Galeazzo II and his son Gian Galeazzo.
Galeazzo II's son, Gian Galeazzo, lord and later duke of Milan, stayed there repeatedly; so dear to his heart was his home in Belgioioso that, in a letter from him dated December 22, 1393, he prohibited the hunting of deer and any other game as far as Bereguardo, Vigevano, and Abbiategrasso.
This measure is also mentioned in the famous testament of 1397, in which the Duke ordered that a Carthusian monastery, house, and church be built on the territory of Pavia "in loco Turris de Mangano"—the Carthusian monastery of Pavia—for the remedy and suffrage of his soul. However, the duke excluded from donations to the Carthusians the very large Visconti park at Pavia Castle and the castle estates of Bereguardo and Belgioioso.
Text adapted from “Belgioioso Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castello di Belgioioso ranks #7,459 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #519 of the 560 mapped in Italy. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Milan, 35 km away. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.
View on the interactive castle map →