Montegibbio Castle (Castello di Montegibbio)

Montegibbio Castle was built from the 10th century onwards on a hilltop in the Modena Apennines, located a few kilometres from Sassuolo on the right bank of the Secchia River. The quadrangular scarped masonry tower located at the centre of the northern slope appears today as the only surviving structure of the medieval castle complex. The rest of the buildings, although following the footprint of the ancient walls, seem to be the result of interventions carried out from the 17th century onwards, when a noble residence for leisure and recreation took shape on the castle ruins. The marquis’s palace, built at the behest of the Boschetti family in adherence to the ancient tower, occupies the north-western corner and appears as a compact L-shaped masonry structure organised on three levels. A small church set against the building and flanked by other buildings, which incorporate the bell tower, is located on the south-eastern side of the complex. An arched portal carved out of a curtain wall located in the centre of the southern façade marks the entrance to the courtyard, overlooked by three other buildings, two of which have porticoes.