Italy · 11th century
Visconti Castle (Massino) ranks #6,483 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #455 of the 555 mapped in Italy. Founded c. 1050, it is older than 89% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 439 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Lugano, 39 km away. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.
The Visconti Castle of Massino is a medieval castle located on the Vergante hills in the municipality of Massino Visconti, Province of Novara, Piedmont, northern Italy. Since the 12th century it has been a possession and one of the preferred residences of the Visconti of Milan. At that time it was frequented by the family ancestor of the lords and dukes of Milan. Afterwards its property was transferred to other collateral branches of the lineage, from the initial Visconti di Massino to the current Visconti di San Vito.
The vast view that can be seen from the site of the castle, covering the Lake Maggiore and the territory beyond it, is supposed to be the motivation of the initial interest of the Visconti of Milan, leading them to the acquisition of the Massino court from the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1134.
Text adapted from “Visconti Castle (Massino)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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