230 Iconic Buildings to Explore in Italy

The d'Evoli Castle of Castropignano is a symbol of the culture and the society of transhumance. The castle is located in the northern part of the town, in a dominant position, it stands on the esplanade overlooking the Biferno valley. ONe of the iconic buildings in this area which is now one of the famous tourist attraction now.

The Malconsiglio castle is the castle of Miglionico ( Matera ), built on a hill in the city starting from the VIII - IX century , in a strategic position, known for having hosted the conspiracy of the barons in 1485 . It had two successive extensions, the first in 1110 and the second in 1400 . It has the shape of a parallelogram , flanked by seven towers , some squares (the oldest), two towers and others circular, placed at the top of the building.

The Castello del Valentino is an ancient Savoy residence, as well as a historic building in Turin located in the Valentino Park of the same name on the banks of the Po river . Owned by the State since 1850 and later assigned to the Polytechnic of Turin , it houses the headquarters of the Department of Architecture and the related three-year and master's degree courses.

Zisa Castle was built in the 12th century by Arab craftsmen as a summer retreat for King William I of Sicily. It's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with handsome windows overlooking the gardens. The Zisa is clearly inspired by Moorish architecture. The name Zisa itself derives from the Arab term al-Azīz, meaning "dear" or "splendid". The same word, in Naskh script, is impressed in the entrance, according to the usual habit for the main Islamic edifices of the time.

The Castello di Arechi is a medieval castle, located at a height of about 300 meters above sea level, overlooking the city and the Gulf of Salerno. It is said of Arechi because the construction of this fortification is traditionally associated with the Lombard duke Arechi II. The castle rises on top of Mount Bonadies dominating the city of Salerno from above. Even if monetary discoveries attest the frequentation of the hill already in the III-II century. BC, the first construction system dates

The Brolio castle is located in Brolio, near San Regolo, in the municipality of Gaiole in Chianti, in the province of Siena. The imposing building is positioned on the back of a hillock that branches off from a western spur of the high Chianti mountains between Monte Fienali and Monte Luco Berardenga, flanked by the Malena and Dudda streams, tributaries of the Arbia.

The Charles V Castle is a fortress of the Middle Ages, set in the old part of Crotone. It is owned by the State, handed over to the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Calabria. Built-in ' 840 to defend the city from the incursions of the Saracens, it was changed more substantially in 1541 by King Charles V.

The Duino Castle is located in the municipality of Duino-Aurisina, in the province of Trieste. Owned for over 420 years by the Della Torre family, branch Della Torre di Valsassina first and then by the Dukes of Torre and Tasso. Since 2003 it has been - together with its park - open to the public. From the manor, you can enjoy a vast panorama of the steep rocky walls overlooking the sea. In the park, there is a bunker used during the Second World War.

The castle of Gradara is the complex that stands on the top of a hill in the municipality of Gradara, in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, in the Marche region, consisting of a medieval castle - fortress and the adjacent historic village, protected by a outer wall that extends for almost 800 meters, making the entire structure imposing. Over time, the castle has progressively become one of the most visited monuments in the region and is the scene of museum, musical and artistic events.

The castle of Grazzano Visconti is a fortress located in the homonymous hamlet of the Italian municipality of Vigolzone, in the province of Piacenza. It was built in 1395, perhaps on the remains of a pre-existing structure, by Giovanni Anguissola following his marriage to Beatrice Visconti, sister of the Duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo. The castle is surrounded by a park built between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century at the behest of Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone which exte

Built-in the Norman period, it is located on a peak about 15 km from Genzano di Lucania. The castle dominates a vast valley which was an important hinge between the territories of the Bradano dominated by the Byzantines and the northern territories of Basilicata dominated by the Lombards and Normans. Conceived by the Normans as a defensive system, it was the scene of a battle between Normans and Byzantines in which the latter were defeated.

The castle of Punta Pagana is located in the extreme point of the same name inside the private park of Villa Spinola, the latter residence of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta since 1959. The ancient seventeenth-century fortress is located in the administrative territory of Rapallo, west of San Michele di Pagana, along the geographical border with Santa Margherita Ligure.

The origins of this complex are supposed to be parallel to the Castello di Sotto as they are part of a single mighty fortified whole. Like the other manor, it suffered the same fate, destroyed in two stages by the federals of the League of Cambrai. A plaque on the building that housed the Chancellery, once an archive of all the lower Friuli area, recalls the event and the reconstructions carried out in 1749. Among the various structures that compose it.

The Ussel castle is one of the castles medieval of Valle d'Aosta. It is located on top of a rocky ridge overlooking the village of Châtillon, in a position that guarantees control of the entrance to the Valtournenche and the valley floor of the Dora Baltea. The castle rises on a serpentinite rock, separated from the rest of the mountain by the "Aosta- Ranzola " fault worked over the centuries by the Pleistocene glacier.

The Vezio castle stands on a promontory at the bottom of the Val d'Esino and overlooks the town of Varenna. The castle is located almost entirely in the territory of Varenna, and for a small portion in the territory of Perledo. The hamlet of Vezio belongs to Perledo in the province of Lecco . Dating back to the 11th century, the castle was remodeled several times over the centuries.

The Castello di Maniace is a manor house built on the site of a former ancient monastery 1 km east of the centre of the small village of Maniace. Originally, one could only enter the castle over a bridge spanning a moat. A feature of the castle is the decorated portal. Today the castle is open to the public and is a local tourist attraction in Syracuse.

The Norman-Swabian castle of Bari, a symbolic building of the city of Bari, is an imposing fortress that stands on the edge of the old city. Since December 2014, the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities has been managing it through the Puglia museum complex, which in December 2019 became the Regional Museum Directorate. The castle is surrounded by a moat on all sides, except the northern section, which was bordering the sea and can be accessed from the bridge and the gate on the southe

The Ruffo di Scilla castle, sometimes also known as the Ruffo di Calabria Castle, is an ancient fortification located on the Scillèo promontory, jutting out over the Strait of Messina. The castle constitutes the genius loci of the town of Scilla, about 20 km north of Reggio Calabria, and certainly one of the most characteristic and typical elements of the landscape of the Strait and the Reggio district. The castle also houses one of the lighthouses of the Navy, the lighthouse of Scilla.

The Swabian castle of Termoli characterizes with its profile the image of the old village of the city. Its construction is traced back approximately to the 13th century, a period in which Frederick II of Swabia designed a fortification system of the south-eastern Italian borders up to Sicily. The Castle is commonly referred to as Swabian , probably due to the restructuring, dating back to 1247, which Frederick II had brought to it, as evidenced by a plaque found inside one of the corner turrets

The Ursino Castle in Catania was built by Frederick II of Swabia in the XIII century. The manor had certain visibility during the Sicilian Vespers, as the seat of the parliament and, later, the residence of the Aragonese kings including Frederick III. Today it houses the Civic Museum of the Etnean city, formed mainly by the Biscari and Benedictine collections.