Description
The Sforza Castle is the great red-brick fortress of the Dukes of Milan, at the edge of the center, between Corso Sempione and Via Dante. As much a symbol of the city as the Duomo, it is one of the largest castles in Europe and today houses the city's civic museums, including Michelangelo's last sculpture.
Francesco Sforza began building it in 1450, on the remains of a Visconti fortress. It is a square about two hundred meters on each side, still surrounded by the old moat, now dry, with a tower at each corner and three large courtyards inside.
On the side facing the city rises the Torre del Filarete, the main entrance and the tallest tower. At the top is a clock with the radiant sun of the Visconti; above the arch, a statue of St. Ambrose among the coats of arms of the six Sforza dukes. On either side, the two round towers are faced with diamond-point rustication.
Beyond the tower opens the parade ground, where the troops were stationed. On the left is the Spanish Hospital, built in 1576 for soldiers sick with the plague: today it houses Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà, on which the sculptor worked until his last days.
At the far end, beyond an inner moat, are the two courts where the dukes lived. The Rocchetta was the Sforzas' safest refuge: five floors around a square courtyard, with a single drawbridge to get in.
The Ducal Court was the heart of court life. At the back, the Elephant Portico gets its name from a faded fresco of exotic animals. A staircase with low steps, made so that you could even ride up on horseback, leads to Galeazzo Maria's loggia.
In the dukes' rooms, now part of the museums, is the Sala delle Asse: here in 1498 Leonardo painted an interlacing of branches, leaves and fruit that covers the vault. Behind the castle, toward Parco Sempione, the loggia of the Ponticella is attributed to Bramante.
Under Ludovico il Moro, at the end of the 15th century, the castle hosted one of the most sumptuous courts in Europe. Then fortunes changed fast: in 1521 the Torre del Filarete, used as an armory, blew up when a bomb went off by mistake.
The Spanish and the Austrians turned it into a military citadel: carpenters' workshops and pantries moved into the frescoed rooms, chicken coops into the courtyards. In 1800 Napoleon ordered its demolition, as a symbol of the "ancient tyranny", and the outer bastions were torn down to applause.
Eighty years later many Milanese still wanted to raze it to build houses. It was saved by the architect Luca Beltrami, who restored its Sforza look. In 1905 he unveiled the new Torre del Filarete, rebuilt from old paintings and drawings.
Don't miss
• The Torre del Filarete.
• The Rondanini Pietà.
• The Rocchetta.
• The Sala delle Asse.
• The Elephant Portico.
Did you know?
• The dukes' treasury opened only with three keys in sequence: one held by the duke, one by the castellan, one by the chamberlain.
• In the "Saletta negra" of the Ponticella, Ludovico shut himself away to mourn his wife Beatrice d'Este.
• Fifteenth-century tunnels run under the castle, noted by Leonardo: their existence was only confirmed in 2024.
Francesco Sforza began building it in 1450, on the remains of a Visconti fortress. It is a square about two hundred meters on each side, still surrounded by the old moat, now dry, with a tower at each corner and three large courtyards inside.
On the side facing the city rises the Torre del Filarete, the main entrance and the tallest tower. At the top is a clock with the radiant sun of the Visconti; above the arch, a statue of St. Ambrose among the coats of arms of the six Sforza dukes. On either side, the two round towers are faced with diamond-point rustication.
Beyond the tower opens the parade ground, where the troops were stationed. On the left is the Spanish Hospital, built in 1576 for soldiers sick with the plague: today it houses Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà, on which the sculptor worked until his last days.
At the far end, beyond an inner moat, are the two courts where the dukes lived. The Rocchetta was the Sforzas' safest refuge: five floors around a square courtyard, with a single drawbridge to get in.
The Ducal Court was the heart of court life. At the back, the Elephant Portico gets its name from a faded fresco of exotic animals. A staircase with low steps, made so that you could even ride up on horseback, leads to Galeazzo Maria's loggia.
In the dukes' rooms, now part of the museums, is the Sala delle Asse: here in 1498 Leonardo painted an interlacing of branches, leaves and fruit that covers the vault. Behind the castle, toward Parco Sempione, the loggia of the Ponticella is attributed to Bramante.
Under Ludovico il Moro, at the end of the 15th century, the castle hosted one of the most sumptuous courts in Europe. Then fortunes changed fast: in 1521 the Torre del Filarete, used as an armory, blew up when a bomb went off by mistake.
The Spanish and the Austrians turned it into a military citadel: carpenters' workshops and pantries moved into the frescoed rooms, chicken coops into the courtyards. In 1800 Napoleon ordered its demolition, as a symbol of the "ancient tyranny", and the outer bastions were torn down to applause.
Eighty years later many Milanese still wanted to raze it to build houses. It was saved by the architect Luca Beltrami, who restored its Sforza look. In 1905 he unveiled the new Torre del Filarete, rebuilt from old paintings and drawings.
Don't miss
• The Torre del Filarete.
• The Rondanini Pietà.
• The Rocchetta.
• The Sala delle Asse.
• The Elephant Portico.
Did you know?
• The dukes' treasury opened only with three keys in sequence: one held by the duke, one by the castellan, one by the chamberlain.
• In the "Saletta negra" of the Ponticella, Ludovico shut himself away to mourn his wife Beatrice d'Este.
• Fifteenth-century tunnels run under the castle, noted by Leonardo: their existence was only confirmed in 2024.