Castle of Grazzano Visconti

In 1395 Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, authorised his sister Beatrice, married to the Piacenza nobleman Giovanni Anguissola, to build a castle on their property of Grazzano.
A square castle with four corner towers, and on the inside a courtyard with porticoes, and loggias and walkways above.
A castle that today is still surrounded by a broad though dry moat and where the signs of the drawbridge are still visible above the entrance. At the end of the 19th century just a few peasants lived round the castle in crumbling farmhouses.
When Filippo Anguissola died childless in 1870, the family of the Anguissola di Vigolzone died out. All the property passed to his mother, Francesca (Fanny) Visconti, widow of Gaetano Ranuzio Anguissola, and she in turn left everything to to her nephew Guido Visconti di Modrone in 1883.
It was Guido's son, Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone (1879-1941), who restored the castle and created a project to replace the few simple buildings that existed between the castle and the parish church of Grazzano with a complex in fourteenth-century style. Working with the architect Alfredo Campanini, he restored the castle at the end of the 19th century, giving it its present appearance, and began building the village of Grazzano.
Finally the castle was surrounded by a park of 15 hectares, including a labyrinth and a playhouse for the children, exotic trees and those more typical of the Apennines.

The castle is still private property and it has opened its doors to guided tours from the 1st september 2018.
The guided tour will continue till the 6th of january 2019 on saturday, sunday and holydays. The guided trous schedul change during the different seasons, in order to book or to have informations: iat@valnure.info tel +39 0523 870997

The castle can still be rented for private events.
The Castle Park at the moment can be visited with guided tours only for organized groups.