Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Like many other Lombard castles, the Belgioioso castle also has a quadrangular layout, surrounded by a wide moat. The complex is divided into three internal courtyards, different (due to the renovations and adjustments to stylistic dictates that have occurred over the centuries) in terms of physiognomy. The eastern front, overlooking Piazza Vittorio Veneto, retains the original high fourteenth-century façade, set on a sloping base and completely in exposed brick, equipped with a drawbridge and Ghibelline battlements (enriched by a decorative band of bricks arranged in a dentil pattern), which also extends over a good part of the castle's north-facing façade. The west-facing façade, opening onto the large Italian garden, was instead remodelled in the second half of the eighteenth century in neoclassical style. In the eastern part of the castle, which has mostly retained the appearance of the medieval fortress, a stone staircase dating back to the 18th century is preserved, while the restoration work undertaken after 2008 has returned a 14th-century mullioned window entirely painted with a white and blue diamond motif and with the coat of arms of Galeazzo II Visconti and traces of the same decoration have also emerged in some rooms leaning against the eastern facade of the castle. Other rooms in this wing of the castle are instead decorated with telamons and heraldic devices of the Barbiano di Belgioioso family dating back to the end of the 16th century. Also in the eastern part of the castle, during the 2014 restoration work, the remains of a two-storey tower were identified, also dating back to the 14th century, later incorporated into the building. The west wing of the castle, in neoclassical style and dominated by a large balcony, was rebuilt by Prince Antonio Barbiano di Belgioioso who entrusted the work to Francesco Croce. On this side of the castle are the noble rooms of the manor, connected by a large stone staircase, on the walls of which are hung tapestries, flags and weapons bearing the princes' coat of arms. On the first floor there is also the large ballroom (measuring 13x13 metres), entirely frescoed according to a decorative programme designed by Leopoldo Pollack, and the ancestors' gallery, enriched by fireplaces in white marble and baroque stuccoes made between 1740 and 1760 by Carlo Beretta in which are depicted the busts of 19 members of the family and the enterprises they conducted described with inscriptions in pure gold. To the north of the castle are the greenhouses and stables, whose facade takes on the shape of an ancient temple, designed by Leopoldo Pollack in 1792. The wing of the castle opens onto the large Italian garden, remodeled in the same years by Prince Antonio, characterised by seven rows of giant magnolias, statues, small stone obelisks and the monumental fountain with Neptune and Thetis surrounded by nymphs, an eighteenth-century work by Carlo Beretta. The garden ends to the west with a large gate, with six tall pillars surmounted by statues, nymphs, cherubs and vases (all the work of Carlo Beretta), called the "teatro de' rastelli", designed by Giovanni and Ruggeri and completed by Francesco Croce in 1737. On the faces of the main pillars of the gate the initials of Prince Antonio are repeated several times, surmounted by the prince's crown.
Like many other Lombard castles, the Belgioioso castle also has a quadrangular layout, surrounded by a wide moat. The complex is divided into three internal courtyards, different (due to the renovations and adjustments to stylistic dictates that have occurred over the centuries) in terms of physiognomy. The eastern front, overlooking Piazza Vittorio Veneto, retains the original high fourteenth-century façade, set on a sloping base and completely in exposed brick, equipped with a drawbridge and Ghibelline battlements (enriched by a decorative band of bricks arranged in a dentil pattern), which also extends over a good part of the castle's north-facing façade. The west-facing façade, opening onto the large Italian garden, was instead remodelled in the second half of the eighteenth century in neoclassical style. In the eastern part of the castle, which has mostly retained the appearance of the medieval fortress, a stone staircase dating back to the 18th century is preserved, while the restoration work undertaken after 2008 has returned a 14th-century mullioned window entirely painted with a white and blue diamond motif and with the coat of arms of Galeazzo II Visconti and traces of the same decoration have also emerged in some rooms leaning against the eastern facade of the castle. Other rooms in this wing of the castle are instead decorated with telamons and heraldic devices of the Barbiano di Belgioioso family dating back to the end of the 16th century. Also in the eastern part of the castle, during the 2014 restoration work, the remains of a two-storey tower were identified, also dating back to the 14th century, later incorporated into the building. The west wing of the castle, in neoclassical style and dominated by a large balcony, was rebuilt by Prince Antonio Barbiano di Belgioioso who entrusted the work to Francesco Croce. On this side of the castle are the noble rooms of the manor, connected by a large stone staircase, on the walls of which are hung tapestries, flags and weapons bearing the princes' coat of arms. On the first floor there is also the large ballroom (measuring 13x13 metres), entirely frescoed according to a decorative programme designed by Leopoldo Pollack, and the ancestors' gallery, enriched by fireplaces in white marble and baroque stuccoes made between 1740 and 1760 by Carlo Beretta in which are depicted the busts of 19 members of the family and the enterprises they conducted described with inscriptions in pure gold. To the north of the castle are the greenhouses and stables, whose facade takes on the shape of an ancient temple, designed by Leopoldo Pollack in 1792. The wing of the castle opens onto the large Italian garden, remodeled in the same years by Prince Antonio, characterised by seven rows of giant magnolias, statues, small stone obelisks and the monumental fountain with Neptune and Thetis surrounded by nymphs, an eighteenth-century work by Carlo Beretta. The garden ends to the west with a large gate, with six tall pillars surmounted by statues, nymphs, cherubs and vases (all the work of Carlo Beretta), called the "teatro de' rastelli", designed by Giovanni and Ruggeri and completed by Francesco Croce in 1737. On the faces of the main pillars of the gate the initials of Prince Antonio are repeated several times, surmounted by the prince's crown.
