Castelnovo Val Tidone castle, in the municipality of Borgonovo, is a fortress built on the former castle ruins (from this detail the choice of the name “Castelnovo” i.e. new castle).
Castelnovo Val Tidone castle, the story
The building hosted in 1155 Frederick I Barbarossa, the famous emperor of the Roman Empire.
THe building was damaged and reconstructed several times because of many battles and sieges. Despite them, the building has well preserved its original XIV century structure.
The structure
The interior spaces were refined between the XVII and the XVIII centuries, when the castle became the country residence for the Marazzani Visconti Family.
At the end of the XVIII century some important and structural renovation work happened. Nowadays the castle has a trapezoid shape with round-shaped towers at the corners. Inside there’s a remarkable charming courtyard with a Travertino well from the XVI century. Despite many reconstructions the army style of the castle is still pretty visible, with some references to the XIV century Lombard architecture. A huge park is surrounding the fortress, with old trees and some XVIII century sculptures.
Current use
It is currently the summer holiday residence of the Princes De Ferrari of Genova.
