La Fortress of Soncino is among the most amazing places in Lombardia. It is one of the best preserved examples dLombard military architecture, and it is a magical place. Able to excite young and old. To visit it you have to go to the village of the same name, which boasts the title of city and which is not far from Cremona.
Rocca di Soncino, the history
In the heart of the Lombard plain, Soncino rises on the right bank of the Oglio river. A strategic position, his, to which the Serenissima Republic of Venice and Duchy of Milan they watched with interest. The fortification process of the village began in the 1128th century, but only at the end of the XNUMXth century did it take on the whole aspect of a strategic-military inhabited nucleus. The first tower of the Rocca di Soncino was built in XNUMX, and became the center of important events that occurred in the XNUMXth century during the lordship of the Podestà Buoso Da Dovara: the conquest of the fortress of Orzinuovi and the imprisonment, right in the tower, of Ezzelino III from Romano. Then, Soncino passed from the Venetian Republic to the Duchy of Milan. It lived years of prosperity, with the manufacture and trade of the woolen cloth to lead the economy. And then years of decline and unrest, when it came into the hands of the French, the Spaniards and the Austrians. Until, on June 14, 1859, the village became part of the Kingdom of Italy.
The construction of the Rocca di Soncino as we see it today began in 1473 at the behest of the Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza and finished in 1475. The castle then lived through all the vicissitudes and changes of ownership that changed the village. However, its architecture remained intact. And his property passed to the Stampa family. His last died in 1876, leaving no heirs. Thus, the possessions of the dynasty passed to the Casati and the fortress was inherited from Common. Apart from historical vicissitudes, the Rocca di Soncino seems to have come out of a fairy tale. It seems to tell of ladies and knights, of a distant past. But full, full of charm.
The architecture of the Rocca
28 meters high and 73 wide, the Rocca di Soncino was transformed from a military fortress (designed by Bartolomeo Gadio) to a castle with the fief of the Count Massimiliano Stampa in 1536. It was he who gave it the appearance of a prestigious "house", with the construction of a chapel and various pictorial decorations. Then, in 1883, the Royal Ministry of Education decided to renovate the decaying castle inherited from the Municipality. He entrusted the project toarchitect Luca Beltrami, who conducted the work keeping faith with history. Today, those arriving in Soncino can therefore visit the fortress in all its grandeur.
Once you have passed the entrance hall, you reach a small courtyard surrounded by walls with their walkways. A ladder leads to the basement of the Captain's Tower, where once there was the prison. And it is precisely there Captain's Tower one of the distinctive elements of the Rocca di Soncino, with its resistance and defense functions. And with those tales of stories and battles. Then there is a tower with a circular base, there are the towers with a square base. And there is the great moat. Because this is a castle in all respects. And he is the protagonist of a village that, beyond the fortress, has a lot to show.
Source of the photograph: Rocca Sforzesca di Soncino - credit Inzoli Maurizio - Wikipedia - CC BY-SA 3.0
