Castello di Felino

The Castello di Felino is built primarily from stone combined with bricks and occupies a commanding position on a hill overlooking the Baganza Valley. Its layout follows a rectangular plan centered around an open courtyard featuring a well. The four corners are marked by massive towers, with one turret on the southwestern side guarding the narrow entrance bridge. The entire complex is encircled by a deep moat, which originally was defended by walls and additional fortifications, parts of which were removed during the 15th-century demolitions.

The fortress is elevated on a steep stone base pierced by several embrasures, or openings used for shooting defensive weapons. The four main buildings, along with a southern keep or stronghold, show long corbels—projecting stone supports—that once held machicolations. Machicolations are openings in the ceiling of a battlement through which defenders could drop stones or boiling liquids on attackers, but those defensive features were removed during late 15th-century alterations.

The main front of the castle is accessed by a high stone arch bridge, formerly completed with a wooden drawbridge that could be raised in times of threat. Above the arched entrance is a small turret plastered over and pierced by two tall vertical slits, which housed the mechanisms—known as bolzones—that operated the drawbridge. This turret is topped by a triangular pediment and flanked by two symmetrical round-arched windows.

The west and north towers differ from the others in lacking corbels and having simpler roofs without decorative cornices. The eastern keep was most likely rebuilt in the early 1500s on an irregular five-sided plan with a projecting spur to the north. This tower features a corbelled cornice and is crowned by a dungeon, standing at approximately 330 meters above sea level.

Buildings surrounding the courtyard have undergone multiple remodelings, yet certain parts preserve original elements. The southwest and northwest sections open onto the courtyard through a portico with brick pillars, above which runs a loggia—a covered gallery or balcony—that continues along the southeast wing. The northeast wing retains traces of a two-story double loggia with round arches, a feature documented as existing in the 1700s.

Inside, many rooms retain ancient fireplaces and exhibit a collection of weapons, armor, and other historical objects, including a bell cast in 1652 by commission of Duke Ranuccio II Farnese. The largest and most artistically important interior space is the Oratory of St. Peter the Apostle, constructed in 1454-1455 on the second floor of the eastern tower by Pier Maria II de’ Rossi. This chapel has an umbrella-shaped vaulted ceiling and walls decorated with frescoes uncovered during restoration work in 1997.

The oratory’s lunettes—semi-circular wall spaces above doors or windows—display the coats of arms of several past castle owners, including Marquis Giacomo Gaufridi, Countess Vittoria Anguissola, Bishop Giacomo Rossi, the Pallavicino family, Count Girolamo Rho, and Pier Maria II de’ Rossi himself. Two particularly notable frescoes depict the emblem of Cardinal Francesco Sforza di Santa Fiora, attributed to Cesare Baglione, and a 15th-century image of the Madonna del Pettirosso, or Madonna of the Robin.

At the basement level, cellars and ancient kitchens are constructed entirely of stone and brick, vaulted by barrel-shaped ceilings. This subterranean area, restored and adapted in recent decades, now hosts a museum dedicated to the region’s famous Felino salami and its production heritage.