- Type
- Castle
- Built
- 1354 · 14th century
- Style
- Gothic architecture
- Commissioned by
- Cangrande II della Scala
- Coordinates
- 45.4396°, 10.9881°
History
Originally known as the castle of San Martino in Aquaro, the fortress was begun in 1354 by Cangrande II della Scala, lord of Verona, who took in a stretch of the old city walls and threw a bridge across the Adige for the castle's sole use. His successors completed it in 1376 with the tall keep. Under Venetian rule it housed barracks, an arsenal and a prison, and from 1759 a military college for engineers. In the early 19th century the French converted it into an arsenal, cutting down the towers and walling up the battlements, and the Austrians kept a garrison here until 1866. Between 1923 and 1926 Ferdinando Forlati and Antonio Avena gave the building back a medieval look and installed a museum; the bridge, blown up by the Germans in 1945, was rebuilt in 1948–1951, and from 1958 to 1964 the architect Carlo Scarpa redesigned the displays.
What to see
The Castelvecchio Museum fills some thirty rooms, from medieval sculpture and frescoes to paintings by Pisanello, Mantegna, Bellini, Veronese, Tintoretto and Tiepolo, with a room of historic arms in the keep. Pride of place in Scarpa's layout goes to the 14th-century equestrian statue of Cangrande I della Scala, brought here from the Scaliger tombs. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, and the brick Ponte Scaligero beside the castle is open to pedestrians.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q1049016
Popularity: articles about this site in 16 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).