Urgnano

Construction of the Fortress of Urgnano commenced in February 1354, after the government of the Duchy of Milan, following the death of Luchino Visconti, had passed into the hands of his brother Giovanni, Archbishop of the city. Occupied a few decades later by the Venetians, the fortress was besieged by the troops of the Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti. The castle became the property of Venice in 1428, when Bergamo and its entire province spontaneously passed under the rule of the Serenissima Republic. In 1454, the Val Camonica and the Bergamo area were conquered by Bartolomeo Colleoni who, in disagreement with Venice, had temporarily come under the Milanese banner of Francesco Sforza. In 1455, Colleoni himself was granted the fiefdom of the fortress of Urgnano together with the appointment as commander general of the Venetian militia. When Colleoni died, the castle passed to his secretary Abbondio Longhi. In 1539, thanks to Count Giangerolamo, the castle became the property of the Albani family. The Albanis restored and embellished the fortress, turning it into a lavish Palazzo hosting illustrious personalities including, in 1550, Fra Michele Ghisleri, who later became Pope Pius V, in 1649 Ferdinand Francis, King of Bohemia and Hungary, and in 1708, Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick. The Rocca di Urgnano remained in the Albani family until 1896. It passed to the Fuzier family, then to the Sala and Gelmini families. In 1955, it was bought by the municipality of Urgnano, which still owns it today.

The castle is surrounded by a large ditch dating back to the year 1483. Although no longer filled with water today, it is still perfectly preserved, having constituted an important defensive element for the fortress.

The fortress is located within a large park, which serves as a public garden. It is accessed through the Passaggio degli Affreschi (Passage of Frescos), which is overlooked by the weapons room, the guard post and the old ice house.

Inside the castle is the hanging garden, where you can admire the path of the dwarf grotesques with the elegant Renaissance fountain, the courtyard with C-shaped body where the sandstone well stands out, surrounded by two porticoes, also in Renaissance style, that give access to the rooms on the upper floors: the Sala dei Satiri, the Sala Rossa, the Sala delle Grottesche, the Sala degli Ovali, the Sala degli Stemmi, the Sala Pio V, the Sala delle 4 Stagioni, the Sala delle Mappe, the chemin de ronde and the Sala Panoramica.