A Chignolo Po, in the province of Pavia, there is a beautiful eighteenth-century patrician residence, a museum of art and costume, called "the Versailles of Lombardy“, which collects precious testimonies of the sumptuous world of the Lombard and Venetian nobility.
The vast Baroque courtyard, the large frescoed rooms of the Tiepolo school, the refinement of the stuccoes and decorations, the dominant tower with its imposing turreted mass make this monument one of the most important historical Italian residences.
Off the beaten track there are hidden treasures that, if visited, offer an experience to remember forever. This is the case of Castle of Chignolo Po, one of the best preserved residential castles in Lombardy, an estate immersed in the Pavia countryside, just south of Milan, with a centuries-old history, which has earned it the nickname of 'Versailles of Lombardy'.
The history of the Chignolo Po Castle
The history of Castle of Chignolo Po, Also known as Procaccini Castle, a real rare pearl, began in 740 when Pavia it was the capital of Longobardi.
In those years, King Liutprando ordered the construction of a defensive tower, which is still standing, to control the territory around the Po River and the ancient Via Francigena, which connected Northern Europe with Rome.
The fortress was later donated to the Benedictine monks of theAbbey of Santa Cristina becoming one of the most important refuges along the Via Francigena, designated as the 40th station by theArchbishop of Canterbury, Sigeric the Serious, where he stopped in 990 on his way back to Canterbury after being officially ordained a priest in the Vatican.
Subsequently, in the 13th century the fortress became one of the most important Lombard fiefdoms under the Pusterla family, and later passed to the Federici and finally to the Cusani.
The transformation from fortress to residence of Kings and Popes
The noble families who lived there slowly transformed it into an elegant castle.
Most of the transformation is due, above all, to the Cardinal Augustine Cusani, ambassador of the Pope to the Republic of Venice and to the court of Louis XIV in Paris, who hired the Roman Baroque architect Giovanni Ruggeri together with Venetian artists of the Tiepolo school. It was then that it was enriched with gardens, statues, fountains, as well as elaborate stuccoes and frescoes.
Cardinal Cusani himself also ordered the construction of the Hunting Casino located in the centre of the park, as a place of leisure and entertainment for guests, taking inspiration from what the King Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, with the Royal Hunting Residence of Stupinigi.
At the end of the works, a grandiose and refined castle emerged which hosted Popes, Kings and Emperors, including the Austrian Emperor Francis I and Napoleon.
In 1936 the last descendant of the Cusani gave the castle to the Sovereign Order of Malta, which used it as a representative office until 1987, when it was sold to Procaccini family who restored it and opened it to the public.
What to see in the Castle of Chignolo Po
Today the castle is a private residence, but, thanks to guided tours, it is possible to visit a large part of it, even if it is not permitted to photograph the interior.
However, guided tours offer a wonderful overview of the entire complex.
There are two routes available to the public: the Baroque Route and the Middle Ages Route.
Il Baroque Route allows you to admire the Aviary Theatre from the plateau, the park with its terraces, the eastern and western gazebo with the Cardinal's loggia, the monumental staircase, the baroque facade, the courtyard of honour, the rooms with frescoes and stuccoes from the Tiepolo school and the historic library.
Il Middle Ages Route instead allows you to admire the medieval village with its defensive structures, the Francigena court, the court of Arts and Crafts, the noble chapel, the kitchens, the cellars with the ancient press, the secret staircase, the patrol walkway, the soldiers' rooms, the Lombard tower and the prisons.
The castle's interiors have been well preserved, so much so that each hall is uniquely decorated with statues and paintings, while the ceilings boast splendid frescoes with three-dimensional elements.
In the ballroom you can admire paintings representing the four seasons and false windows with reference to colonies in the shape of parrots in cages.
Also available to the public is the room of Pope Clement XI, a frequent guest of the castle, with fifteenth-century floors and stuccoes of notable beauty and refinement.
In the castle there is also the room that hosted Napoleon Bonaparte during a battle that took place in the vicinity of the estate.
To visit the castle, a reservation is not necessary as visits are continuous.
The facility is open on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9:30 to 19:30.
For both routes, which last 75 minutes, the cost is €13.00 for adults and €8.00 for children and young people from 6 to 18 years old.
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