Italy · 13th century
The Rocca Malvezzi-Campeggi, also known as the Rocca Sforzesca di Dozza, or simply the Rocca di Dozza, is a medieval castle in the town of Dozza, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
The general layout of the present structure was likely built in the mid-13th century as a purely military stronghold, atop more ancient foundations. It was rebuilt and expanded several times over the centuries, first as a fortified castle and later as a noble residence.
The main outline visible today dates from the end of the 15th century, when Caterina Sforza, Lady of Imola and Forlì and wife of Girolamo Riario, commissioned a refurbishment from the architect Giorgio Marchesi. Riario was a grandson of Pope Sixtus IV. Marchesi, assisted by military engineers in the service of the Sforza family, helped design the defensive towers, moat, and merlons.
The Campeggi family settled in the fortress in 1565; the renovation works that converted it from a military stronghold into a noble residence, begun by Annibale, Baldassarre, and Vincenzo Campeggi, were completed in 1594 by Antonio Campeggi on behalf of the Malvezzi family of Bologna. In the 1500s, the castle had also been granted by Pope Clement VII to Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggi, who converted it into a residence, roofing the courtyard and creating open loggias.
Upon the death of Lorenzo Campeggi in 1728, the last male heir of the Campeggi line, the castle passed to Francesca Maria Campeggi, who was married to Matteo Malvezzi; their son carried on the name Malvezzi-Campeggi. In 1798, the Napoleonic occupation of the region abolished feudal domains, but the castle remained in the hands of the family until 1960. The Campeggi and Malvezzi families resided in the castle continuously from the 16th century until then.
In 1960, the castle was acquired by the Comune of Dozza. The main hall still holds portraits of the Malvezzi family and tapestries bearing the family coat of arms, alongside a portrait of the Campeggi family by Lorenzo Pasinelli.
The castle has a hexagonal plan with a perimeter of about 200 metres, characterised by two circular corner towers set into a polygonal central body.
Text adapted from “Dozza Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dozza Castle ranks #7,257 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #508 of the 560 mapped in Italy. Founded c. 1250, it is older than 67% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. The nearest day-trip guide is Bologna, 27 km away. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.
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