Castle of Soncino

Soncino Castle (Italian: Rocca di Soncino) is a military fortress in Soncino, northern Italy. It was built in the 10th century, and it became active around 1500.

A set of walls around a defensive structure were built in the 10th century, in order defend the borough from the marauding Hungarians. In 1200 it was besieged several times by the armies of Milan and Brescia, and in 1283, after being destroyed by the attacks of those armies, the commune of Soncino decided to rebuild the castle. In 1312 the castle was occupied by the Cremonese army, and in 1391 by the Milanese army, using it during the war against the Venetian Republic. In the year 1426 new walls were added to raise the previous ones.

When the "peace of Lodi" was declared in 1454, the borders between the Venetian Republic and Duchy of Milan were established, and the Castle passed to the Duchy of Milan. The Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, reinforced the walls of and around the castle, which led to the request for construction in 1468 to Soncino people's desire requested by letter to the Duke of Milan, although he chose to erect just a new tower with the characteristic circular shape. Further reconstruction took place from 1471 by Benedetto Ferrini and Danese Maineri, engineers responsible for the fortresses of Soncino and Romanengo. and in 1473, Bartolomeo Gadio also contributed. From 1499 to 1509, the castle was held by the Venetians, until with French aid, the fortress was again held by the Milanese.

In 1536 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V assigned the Milanese Stampa family the Marquisate of Soncino. This family transformed the castle into a residence commissioning frescoes by Bernardino Gatti and Vincenzo Campi for internal rooms of the castle and the chapel. In 1876 Massimiliano Stampa, last Marquis of Soncino, bequeathed the castle to the town, and the town hall in 1883, in collaboration with Luca Beltrami, began the restoration of the castle.

The Soncino Castle is strategically positioned near the town, although the four centuries it has been used as a residency has given it a harmony with the external sides, starting from the entrance that today is positioned into urban square.

Text adapted from “Soncino's Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castle of Soncino ranks #5,642 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #414 of the 528 mapped in Italy. Founded 1473, it is older than 48% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 490 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,044 times in the last 60 days, more than 50% of the atlas. The nearest day-trip guide is Brescia, 31 km away. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

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