Landiona Castle

Landiona Castle, locally known as Castello di Landiona, lies in the village of the same name, in the Novara province in the Piedmont region in Italy.

Landiona Castle was built in 1280 by Paolo Caccia, a vassal of the mighty Tornielli family from Novara. After the death of Paolo, the castle was divided up between his sons. This quickly led the castle to undergo continuous divisions due to the numerous regional nobles who lived there, often at the same time. This caused the castle to lose its military function and becoming a sort of condominium for nobles.

In the mid-13th century ownership of Landiona castle passed to the Visconti family from Milan. Around 1361 the castle and village were damaged badly during the passing of a group of English mercenaries. During later centuries the castle passed through the hands of several owners.

Originally the square castle probably had a couple towers more at its corners and it may have been circled by a dry moat.

At present all the buildings that together constitute Landiona Castle are divided up in lots of private residences while part of the south wing is used for municipal purposes, like a post office. Not very interesting, although I like the gate tower; must be nice to have your living room at the top.

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