Sforza Castle

Sforza Castle is a magnificent medieval castle in Milan, built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza as a residence. Nowadays, there are several museums in the castle.

The first fortification on the castle was built in the 14th century, but during the popular uprising it was destroyed. Around the middle of the 15th century, Francesco Sforza Castle was built here. Even the famous Leonardo da Vinci was attracted to decorate it, but so far only pergol has been saved, all of its frescoes have been lost. Looking around the castle it is easy to notice familiar motives, because architects of the Moscow Kremlin took sketches from it. The main tower of the castle is the Filarete tower, designed by architect Antonio Filarete, working for some time together with Aristotle Fioravanti.

During the Italian Wars, Sforza escaped from the city and the fortress was captured by the king of France, Louis XII. He put his receiver, but under his leadership the castle fell into decay, and during a thunderstorm in 1521, lightning hit the Filaret tower, where there was a warehouse with gunpowder. After the explosion, she had to be dismantled. When Ferrante Gonzaga began to take control of Milan, the city began to strengthen the city first. He ordered to build additional fortifications in the form of a star, and the castle was in their center. In the castle itself, rooms for barracks for two thousand people were converted.

After the revolution, the French took possession of the city and a group of local residents handed a petition to Napoleon with a request to destroy the castle and build the square so that he repeated the fate of the Bastille. But Napoleon gave the order to simply build a large area in front of Sforza Castle. In 1833, the castle was restored to return the medieval appearance, in 1900 the tower of Filarete was restored to the drawings.

Nowadays, there are various museums in Sforza Castle that can be obtained on a single ticket. It is worth noting that they can be visited without paying if you go here an hour before the closure of museums and on Thursday afternoon. Once here you can visit the prehistoric museum, the museum of dishes, musical instruments, Ancient Egypt and others.