Besozzo Castle

Besozzo Castle, locally known as Castello di Besozzo, lies in the town of the same name, in the Varese province in the Lombardy region in Italy.

Tradition has it that the castle was founded by the Lombards, which would place it between the 6th and 8th century. The settlement itself however was already known in Roman times. It was located at a strategic location on a hill overlooking the Bardello river, in the middle of ancient paths that descended from the Alpine passes towards the plains of the Po valley.

Besozzo Castle was first mentioned during the 13th century when it gained greater importance after the destruction of a castle of the Milanese archbishops in nearby Brebbia in 1263. It was owned by the Besozzi family until the 18th/19th century. The Adamoli family became owners in the early 19th century. They hosted Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini, both Italian revolutionaries, here several times.

The oldest part of the present castle are the square keep, called 'Torre Longobarda' and some walls of the inner castle on the highest part of the hill, which date back to medieval times. What must have been the outer castle was rebuilt between the 15th and 16th century in Renaissance style. After 1751 it has been split into 2 separate palaces. The north one, characterized by an elegant late Renaissance entrance tower with a light columned loggia on corbels, is called the 'Castello Cadario'. The south one is called the 'Palazzo Adamoli'. The park of the latter contains the medieval keep.

Both palaces of Besozzo Castle are private residences which can not be visited, nor can the park with the medieval remains be visited.

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