Casalgrande castle

via Castello

42013 Casalgrande

A marble slab removed from the tower in 1704 and bearing the legend, "Liutprandi rege felicissimo" has led to the hypothesis that the castle was founded by the Lombard king Liutprandi, in the first half of the 7th century.
Modern historians believe the inscription to be the fruit of beguiling legend, and agree in attributing the building of the castle to the Guidelli family. Although the family were lords of the territory in the 8th century, the typology of the buildings suggests a later date but does not exclude the existence of a pre-existing building.
From 1335 the castle was under the dominion of the Fogliani family who despite family disputes maintained control of Casalgrande until 1409. In that year Nicolo' d'Este, having decided to punish the alliance between Carlo Fogliani and his enemy Otto Terz, stormed and conquered the stronghold in Casalgrande.
Casalgrande, together with Dinazzano, Salvaterra, and Montebabbio, were given
four years later to Alberto della Sala, a nobleman of Ferrara, by the Marquis of Este. In 1444 the Este family repossessed Casalgrande and in 1452 they gave it in fiefdom to Feltrino Boiardo, lord of Scandiano. Rivalry between the Este family and Ottavio Farnese during the course of the 16th century had negative repercussions on the destiny of Casalgrande. In fact the castle was besieged in 1557 by Spanish troops led by Farnese and, assisted by a fire accidentally started in the castle's ammunition, he managed to storm the stronghold and set fire to the defenceless castle. Despite the violence of the attack the resistance opposed by the castle's defenders was memorable.
After this disaster Count Ottavio Thiene, whose family ruled the castle until 1622, commissioned new fortifications following the style of the pre-existing building. In the years following the castle was ruled by the lords Marchesi Enzo and Cornalio Bentivoglio until 1643, by the Estensi Family, and by the Marquis Giambattista de Mari who governed from1750 to 1777. At his death the fiefdom of Casalgrande retuned to the Ducal chambers. Purchased in 1782 by Giovanni Grulli, it was ceded by him to Taddeo Croce for half the sum he paid.
The last owners of the buildings comprising the castle and the castle village of Casalgrande are the Grimaldi family, whilst the comune owns the East door and the Pretorio Tower.
The remains of the tower consist in a rural 15th-century court of elliptical shape, of which part was used for military residential purposes and part for agricultural use. The fortified residence has two square towers with window slits connected by a central building. The entrance tower has remains of crenellations and a door with grooves for a drawbridge. At the centre of the tower, which can be entered from the large courtyard with central well, there is a worn coat of arms on the wall. This tower in past times had a bell, now to be found in the tower of the parish church, which was used to warn the inhabitants of the "castrum" of imminent dangers. Outside, on the old path which led to the village below, can be seen the Oratory of San Sebastian, built in 1479 and now used as a hay-barn.
The building is on a simple plan with a double-pitched roof supported by a cornice of eaves in brickwork laid out in a saw-tooth pattern. Inside, wooden beams are visible and an interesting altarpiece with cherubs is conserved.