Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Palazzo Pretorio, dating back to the 15th century, has a beautiful ogival portico with mullioned windows and arengo. On the upper floor there are two halls with frescoes from the 15th and 16th centuries. The castle is dominated by a 39-meter-high crenellated tower, whose original structures date back to the foundation of Castelnuovo. Inside there is the "Pier Angelo Soldini" Library and the Study Center dedicated to the storyteller Matteo Maria Bandello, the most illustrious citizen of Castelnuovo Scrivia. The first settlements in the area date back to the Roman era, as attested by the traces of centuriation in the agricultural property and the many finds discovered in the area. The actual inhabited center arose around 500 AD by the Ostrogoths of Theodoric. The village was expanded and strengthened in 722 by the Lombard king Liutprando. Castelnuovo, of the Ghibelline party, was an ally of Frederick Barbarossa and participated in the destruction of Tortona (1155), obtaining in exchange public works, immunities and privileges, including the right to place the municipal flag (yellow-gold and white-silver) on the tower and to have the exclusive right to the gualdo market (to dye fabrics blue). The rivalry with Tortona caused countless wars, until Castelnuovo, at the beginning of the 14th century, after a brief period as a free municipality, became a fief of the Duchy of Milan, with the lordships of the Bandello, Torriani, Visconti, Carmagnola and Sforza. Among the feudal lords, Borso d'Este should be remembered, who, in the period 1443-1471, gave impetus to economic activities (fabric dyeing, goldsmithing, iron and copper). Among the products, swords, frying pans and frying pans stood out and for this very reason the people of Castelnuovo are still nicknamed in the surrounding area with the name of "padlé". In that era, Castelnuovo became a very important and very rich centre, as evidenced by the large houses built in that period and of which evident traces remain. After the Spanish parenthesis with the D'Avalos lords, Castelnuovo, which, in 1567, had changed the name "di Tortona" to "ad Scripiam", in 1570 became a fief of the Marini marquises, who built the church and the college of Sant'Ignazio and the palace now the town hall. In 1778, when the marquise Giovanna, the last of the Marinis, married to Centurione, died, she was succeeded by her son, Prince Carlo Centurione. On 17 June 1828 it was decided to demolish the 3600 metre long walls which, due to their solidity, had made Castelnuovo a military position of notable importance, and also due to its strategic location at the meeting point between the salt routes (from the Ligurian Sea along the Scrivia) and the Po Valley.
Palazzo Pretorio, dating back to the 15th century, has a beautiful ogival portico with mullioned windows and arengo. On the upper floor there are two halls with frescoes from the 15th and 16th centuries. The castle is dominated by a 39-meter-high crenellated tower, whose original structures date back to the foundation of Castelnuovo. Inside there is the "Pier Angelo Soldini" Library and the Study Center dedicated to the storyteller Matteo Maria Bandello, the most illustrious citizen of Castelnuovo Scrivia. The first settlements in the area date back to the Roman era, as attested by the traces of centuriation in the agricultural property and the many finds discovered in the area. The actual inhabited center arose around 500 AD by the Ostrogoths of Theodoric. The village was expanded and strengthened in 722 by the Lombard king Liutprando. Castelnuovo, of the Ghibelline party, was an ally of Frederick Barbarossa and participated in the destruction of Tortona (1155), obtaining in exchange public works, immunities and privileges, including the right to place the municipal flag (yellow-gold and white-silver) on the tower and to have the exclusive right to the gualdo market (to dye fabrics blue). The rivalry with Tortona caused countless wars, until Castelnuovo, at the beginning of the 14th century, after a brief period as a free municipality, became a fief of the Duchy of Milan, with the lordships of the Bandello, Torriani, Visconti, Carmagnola and Sforza. Among the feudal lords, Borso d'Este should be remembered, who, in the period 1443-1471, gave impetus to economic activities (fabric dyeing, goldsmithing, iron and copper). Among the products, swords, frying pans and frying pans stood out and for this very reason the people of Castelnuovo are still nicknamed in the surrounding area with the name of "padlé". In that era, Castelnuovo became a very important and very rich centre, as evidenced by the large houses built in that period and of which evident traces remain. After the Spanish parenthesis with the D'Avalos lords, Castelnuovo, which, in 1567, had changed the name "di Tortona" to "ad Scripiam", in 1570 became a fief of the Marini marquises, who built the church and the college of Sant'Ignazio and the palace now the town hall. In 1778, when the marquise Giovanna, the last of the Marinis, married to Centurione, died, she was succeeded by her son, Prince Carlo Centurione. On 17 June 1828 it was decided to demolish the 3600 metre long walls which, due to their solidity, had made Castelnuovo a military position of notable importance, and also due to its strategic location at the meeting point between the salt routes (from the Ligurian Sea along the Scrivia) and the Po Valley.
