The Scaliger defensive system between the 13th and 14th centuries
On the occasion of National Castle Days 2024, 11 and 12 Maythe Lombardy Regional Museums Directoratei municipalities of Ponti sul Mincio, Monzambano, Valeggio sul Mincio and Villafranca di Verona they relaunch the project “Border castles. The Scaliger defensive system between the 13th and 14th centuries”.
The Della Scala family was, between the mid-thirteenth century and the end of the fourteenth century, one of the most important families in northern Italy. In a territory squeezed between the Venetian dominions to the east, the Milanese Duchy of the Visconti to the west and the Gonzaga to the south, the Scala family dominated Verona and its territory, influencing the political and military events of those years. Between the end of the 13th and the first half of the 14th century, determined to defend their territories from possible invaders, the lords of Verona launched a grandiose program of border fortification which would lead, in a few decades, to the construction of over 30 military garrisons around in Verona. To complete the defensive system, the Serraglio was then built: a 16 km long wall which should have constituted the extreme defensive line of the city of Verona towards the south.
The close collaboration between five public bodies, hosting as many castles of Scaliger origin, has made it possible to develop a project to enhance the stretch of fortified line created to protect the western and southern borders of the Veronese territory. This sequence of castles represents an exceptional testimony of medieval castle architecture, created through the use of standardized and repetitive construction techniques, which masterfully adapt to the context in which the different castles are placed, first lakeside (Sirmione), then hilly (Ponti sul Mincio, Monzambano and Valeggio sul Mincio) and finally flat (Villafranca di Verona).
The “Border Castles” project involves the creation of a sequence of interrelated multi-year activities: after the creation, in 2023, of the information brochure and a guide accessible through Google Maps, with visit routes by bicycle and a guide castles and surrounding places of interest, this year a specific in-depth study is proposed on the five castles of the route. Using a QR Code (or direct link) for each castle you are directed to a digital guide complete with photographs and other multimedia material.
The use of a commonly used tool such as Google Maps for guides to castles allows anyone to have quick and easy access to tourist and cultural information.
The Scaliger Castle of Sirmione
Frame the QR Code or go to the link https://bit.ly/3yagS0X to view the map
History
The castle of Sirmione is an extraordinary example of lake fortification and one of the best preserved fortresses in Garda. Built in the first half of the 14th century, it stands at the entrance to the medieval village and is made up of a central quadrilateral of walls, closed by three corner towers, on which stands a keep, the tallest tower. Another lower defensive circle surrounds a second courtyard and the dock.
The dock
From the secondary courtyards of the castle you can access the dock, the port where the Scala fleets repaired. Of an irregular shape, perhaps specifically designed to protect the body of water inside it from the north wind, the “pelèr”, it is delimited by a crenelated wall on two levels, the lower one for mooring boats and the upper one for control and defense.
The keep
From the southern side of the walkways you enter the keep, 37 meters high, crowned with stone corbels. Used for the control of the territory and visual communication with the other Scala castles, it is located next to the keep, the dormitory for the soldiers. From the top of the tower you can enjoy an unforgettable panoramic view of Lake Garda.
Address: piazza Castello 34 Sirmione (BS)
Tel: +039 030916468
Email: [email protected]
Scaligero Castle of Ponti sul Mincio
QR Code Scaligero Castle of Ponti sul Mincio
History
The castle is the first stronghold that the visitor encounters, starting from Lake Garda towards the south, along the banks of the Mincio river. The construction perimeters, with an irregular layout, the top part of a low hill, on which the village is located.
The first nucleus of the castle was probably built in the 12th century, but the current structure can be attributed to the second half of the 13th century during the Scaligero dominion.
The defensive system
Its shape, polygonal and elongated, constitutes a simple walled enclosure, interspersed with towers that sit on the top of a small hill and adapt to its level curves. Enclosed within four towers, in addition to the keep, the castle is configured as a stronghold to defend the territory and to observe the vast Mincio valley. The city walls, made of river pebbles, echoed in the corners of the towers by the typical brick saw teeth, are characterized by gabled battlements and patrol walkways in the thickness of the wall, unfortunately some of which have now collapsed. The defense towers are located in positions almost equidistant from each other: a shielded tower occupies the northern tip and two others, open towards the inside, are located on the sides in a median and symmetrical position. To the south of the castle, symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis, are the keep, the highest tower from which one could easily control the surrounding area, and the clock tower.
Address: via Castello – 46040 Ponti sul Mincio (Mantua)
Tel: +39 351 8968121
Email: [email protected]
Scaligero Castle of Monzambano
Frame the QR Code or go to the link https://bit.ly/3JSMBpN to view the map
History
Similar to the castle of Ponti sul Mincio, the castle of Monzambano is built on an existing relief of two contiguous hills separated by a slight depression located behind the town. The current complex is the result of an expansion of the previous castle (attributed to the 12th century), much smaller, which occupied the northern side. The current structure, built by the Scaligeri family around the end of the 13th century, was the subject of renovations and adjustments on several occasions due to the strategic importance attributed to the city: in medieval times, in fact, Monzambano constituted an important bridgehead, wedged to the right of the Mincio, towards the Brescia and Mantua areas.
The defensive system
The castle is accessible via a single door, located on the eastern side, once equipped with a drawbridge. The mighty keep, however, is located at the southwestern summit, and was originally flanked by a large building.
The defensive system was completed by five other shielded towers, two placed in a corner position and three in an intermediate position, joined by a wooden walkway, now disappeared but mentioned in a document from 1408. From the latter some of the original proper names emerged of the towers: the keep was therefore called “la Guardia di San Marco”, the two towers on the west side “la Campagna” and “la Ghibellina”, the current bell tower “la Campana” while the entrance tower “la porta Veronese”.
Address: via Castello, 34 – 46040 Monzambano (Mantua)
Tel: +39 345 6614141
Email: [email protected]
Scaligero Castle of Valeggio sul Mincio
Frame the QR Code or go to the link https://bit.ly/3wsK3vu to view the map
History
From the top of Mount Ogheri, the Scaligero castle of Valeggio sul Mincio dominates the entire valley of the Mincio river and the picturesque mill village of Borghetto, considered one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. The original layout of the castle, dating back to the 10th century, suffered serious damage due to a violent earthquake in January 1117; of this structure only a singular horseshoe-shaped construction, known as the Tonda tower, survives.
The defensive system
In 1284 Alberto della Scala strengthened the defensive system of the castle and the walls of Borghetto which incorporated, in addition to some houses, also the small Romanesque church of the monastery of Santa Maria della Maison. In the following decades, further works were carried out, such as the addition of the parade ground, the construction of the ravelin and the raising of the keep.
The castle has an almost rectangular plan, and is divided into three distinct enclosures: the parade ground, which once ended to the south against the walls of the menagerie; the parade ground, in the centre, protected towards the town by a ravelin; and finally, to the north, the residential courtyard with the keep.
Address: Via degli Scaligeri – 37067 Valeggio sul Mincio (VR)
Tel: +39 045 7951880
Email: [email protected]
Scaligero castle of Villafranca di Verona
Frame the QR Code or go to the link https://bit.ly/4agfQh7 to view the map
History
In 1185, the Municipality of Verona promoted the establishment of the primordial embryo of the town, indicating it with the name of Borgo Libero. At the same time it was decided to build a defense fort, approximately in the place where the current fortress stands. It was a defensive system completed by a moat – both mentioned in the act of 1185 but not better defined in shape and size – presumably composed of wall structures, but it cannot be ruled out that a good part of the whole consisted of wooden structures. .
We do not know the exact date of realization of this first very strong territorial transformation but we do know that it later became a fundamental and integral part of the defensive line of the Serraglio Scaligero, which ran largely along the Tione river up to the Gherla castle on the border between Villafranca and Valeggio sul Mincio and then, from there, it continued straight up to Valeggio whose provincial road still persists today on the site of the ancient road and on the edge of the foundations of the Serraglio.
The defensive system
The castle of Villafranca stands on the south side of the city, built urbanistically with a square grid layout and functional to the needs of a pioneer and peasant population.
However, the castle of the time was very different from the current one and the Serraglio did not exist, which was built almost one hundred and seventy years after the foundation of the village. The castle that we now see is the result of the last late Scaliger, but also Venetian, phases and the nineteenth-century demolitions that affected Villafranca. At its maximum splendor we would have seen an enormous manor looming over the town, extremely elaborate in its defense systems, unapproachable and, in the background, a gigantic, dark and very long wall complete with towers, whose only outlet towards the countryside and the Mantua area was marked by the “Portòn” which framed the road that headed towards Mantua.
Address: Piazza Castello – Villafranca di Verona – 37069
Tel: +39 346/3989886
Email: [email protected]
Facebook-Instagram: infopoint Villafranca di Verona
