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This castle is near the historic centre of the city, right on the northernmost historical border of the Republic of Genoa, about 12 miles from Alessandria.

Built by Frederick Barbarossa (1122-1190), the castle was part of a village with houses and shops.
The fortress features the troops’ quarters and an irregularly shaped enclosure surrounded by walls.

Improved by the Visconti family in two different periods (1353-1392 and 1412-1447), it then became a defensive fortress for the people of Genoa, was owned by Austria in 1746 and eventually by the Republic of Genoa until 1797. Later on, the French dismantled it, leaving only the tower and some parts of the surrounding walls standing: today, they mark a section of the large park that surrounds what remains of the castle.

In the meantime, over the years, ditches have been filled and used to create a large garden, now serving as a leisure adventure park: covering some 10 acres of woodland, it is one of the largest in Italy.

The castle is also part of the “Open Castle” collection of lower Piedmont.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)