Ivrea Castle

Ivrea Castle (Italian: Castello d'Ivrea) is a castle located at Piazza Castello in Ivrea, Italy.

It was built in 1358 on behalf of Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy to signify the dominance of the House of Savoy over the region.

In 1676, the northwestern tower, which served as powder magazine, was struck by a lightning. The resulting explosion caused 51 deads, 187 damaged houses and the collapse of the tower itself. The tower has never been rebuilt to its full height.

In the 18th century, the castle was converted into a prison, at the beginning destined to State prisoners only, and later also to common prisoners. It retained this function until 1970.

The castle is currently owned by the Municipality of Ivrea, which, in recent years, has intensified restoration efforts to open it to the public. Some recent restoration works, which began in January 2023, led to its reopening in July 2024.

The castle has four towers erected on a plan flank. It is located next to a cathedral and a bishop's palace. The castle is mentioned in the work of Giosuè Carducci.

Text adapted from “Ivrea Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ivrea Castle ranks #3,166 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #249 of the 452 mapped in Italy. Founded 1358, it is older than 57% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Turin, 46 km away. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗