Castello Sforzesco

In front of you stands Milan's most famous tower, the Filarete Tower, and behind it the brick bulk of the castle that served as home, fortress and barracks for six centuries.

1From the Visconti to the Sforza

Around 1360-1370, Galeazzo II Visconti built a castle here against the city wall. When the last Visconti died, the Milanese proclaimed the Golden Ambrosian Republic in 1447 and tore it down. It did not last: in 1450 Francesco Sforza took the city and began rebuilding the castle as his residence. In 1452 he commissioned the central tower from the architect Filarete. Under Ludovico il Moro the castle hosted a brilliant court: in 1498 Leonardo decorated the Sala delle Asse with a canopy of painted branches.

2Explosion, barracks and rescue

On 28 June 1521 the tower, used as a powder store, blew up. Then came the Spanish, who turned the castle into a military citadel. In 1800 Napoleon ordered its demolition, and towers and bastions came down. In the late 19th century there were plans to raze the rest, but the architect Luca Beltrami restored it between 1890 and 1905 and rebuilt the Filarete Tower from old drawings. He dedicated it to King Umberto I, assassinated in 1900.

The tower you see is actually an early 20th-century reconstruction that copies the original.

3What to look for

• The relief of Umberto I on horseback, above the entrance arch.
• The statue of Saint Ambrose on the tower, with the coats of arms of the Sforza dukes.
• The swallowtail battlements, typical of Lombard castles.