Formigine Castle (Castello di Formigine)

The most ancient nucleus of the Formigine fortress (attested from 1201) coincides with the rocchetta complex: a fortified structure located to the east of the perimeter that enclosed the area of the ancient village, which was gradually removed to make way for the castle garden. The rocchetta is a complex built entirely of brick, consisting of a small courtyard enclosed on the eastern side by a curtain wall crowned by dovetail battlements, which connects the main tower to the north-east (on top of which is the clock) and a corner tower at the south-eastern apex. Both towers are topped with corbels surmounted by battlements on which lowered arches support pavilion roofs.

Opposite the keep stands the access structure, while a second body of the building connects the rocchetta to the marquis’s palace. This Palace, erected at the behest of the Pio family, develops along a north-south axis with a rectangular plan. It appears as a two-storey block enclosed at the north-eastern corner by a tower with physical characteristics not dissimilar to those of the rocchetta.