Castle of Salò

Castle of Salò, fortresses and fortified villages of the XII-XVII centuries of the Riviera della Magnifica Patria

Castle of Salò: “According to the Odorici this fortress was founded by the Brescian people in 1121, ……; but Bettoni considers the news without foundation, born, according to him, by the desire of the Brescians to affirm the “perennial dominance of Brescia on the Riviera”. He admits, however, immediately afterwards that it is not unlikely that the citizens of Brescia “would put a fortress there where today there are few remains”. However, this castle did not have for centuries the importance of the neighbors of Maderno, S. Felice and Manerba. Ezzelino in 1258 always fortified him in hatred towards Brescia. However, he had to have good defenses if in 1329 he was able to resist victoriously the assault also brought from the lake by Can Grande della Scala. …….; then fell under the Visconti domination, reiterated by the marriage of Bernabò with Beatrice called Queen della Scala (daughter of Mastino), improving the fate of Salò. In 1377 the seat of the government of the Riviera was transferred there, which caused the town to encircle its walls and widen its boundary. …………..

There was the city, which here in Salò was the ancient village, surrounded by walls of little defensive value; just read what M. Sanudo writes, that “Salò is walled by the band of the mountain with antique and low walls, but of that band is the weakest place”, and then there was the real Rocca with its rocchetta. We are interested in establishing exactly where this fortress or castle stood and possibly trace its perimeter. It was located upstream of the great Fovea, the current Piazza della Fossa, and was intimately connected with the walled city. In fact, then there was no current road upstream of the city run by traffic that starts at Gardesana; there was a small street in its place, the old Via della Carità, which ended in the inner square after the door of the clock, then called Porta della Rocca, as can be seen from the map of 1812. Naturally, the castle will have its special, well-equipped entrance, very easily with a drawbridge facing south, where Castle is written in the plan reproduced by the Mucchi, and where the highest tower, or keep, has been very easily.

The actual castle was much larger and its walls had to be more powerful than those that surrounded the city. They left east from the Via della Carità vecchia, and went up the road to Renzano, after about sixty meters they turned to form a system with the Rocchetta, located further upstream, and here the complex settlement of the castle is no longer possible to define it. After about a few meters, the walls turned towards noon, towards the lake; in the middle of this curtain the Capello door opened. At the mouth of the Fossa there was a tower, the tower of the Dazio that formed a bulwark on the most exposed corner because at that point the boundary ran once at noon, right on the site of today’s great road to Brescia and Gardone Riviera. Today there is no trace of all this fortress ….. ”

Castle of Salò – Historical sources Fausto Lechi, “Dimore bresciane, cinque secoli di storia”