At the moment I am slowly exploring the Po Valley area around Mantua.
Recently I visited a newly restored castle in an out of the way place
called San Giovanni in Croce. In this small village stands a recently restored
castle, Villa Medici del Vascello.
Google Maps Steet View still show it as a ruin and seeing it in its restored state
is quite exhilarating.
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
Like many castles it started out as a military installation but with
time became a stately home. It was a lady called Cecilia Gallerani a mistress
of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, who turned the castle into a stately home after
retiring to this village after the death of her husband.
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
A woman of great charm and
refined intelligence, she animated a small Renaissance court, hosting and
entertaining artists and writers of the Lombard Renaissance. She is
famous for featuring in a famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, The Lady with
an Ermine.
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
The period of maximum splendor was
in the nineteenth century, when Giuseppe Soresina-Vidoni, a prince of the
Austrian Empire, laid out the large park that develops to the rear of the Villa
for an area of 12 hectares. It is an English garden, which was in fashion at the time, where we
find a panoramic lake with sinuous shapes and various buildings in different
styles.
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
Another lady was responsible for its decay into a ruin. The last noble
owner was a widow called Marchese Maria Carolina Vidoni Soranzo in
Medici del Vascello[ who
was a fervent supporter of Fascism and lover of the Fascist leader Roberto Farinacci.
Despite being popular with the inhabitants of the village and by all accounts
quite harmless, she was assassinated by the Partisans in 1945. The Villa then
passed hands steadily falling into ruin.
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| Villa Medici del Vascello,San Giovanni in Croce |
The
Commune who acquired the palace in 2005 have done a good job with the
restauration.
On
the way back, I stopped off at another castle that was closing. They let me
take a couple of shots from the garden. A place that I have added to my list of
places to visit.
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Castello
Mina Della Scala, Cremona
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