Italy Sforza castle. Fortress in the heart of Milan: Sforza Castle Sforza Castle

Sforzesco Castle (Castello Sforzesco) was erected in the middle of the 14th century at the direction of Galeazzo II Visconti, who ruled Milan at that time. After the death of the last of the Visconti, without leaving a male heir, a rebellion broke out, as a result of which the Ambrosian Republic was established and the castle was destroyed. The Republic did not last long; power was eventually seized by Francesco Sforza, the son-in-law of the last Visconti. He declared himself Duke of Milan and rebuilt the castle, which now bears his name.

The central tower of the fortress was designed by the architect Antonio Filarete, after whom it was named. Representatives of the Sforza dynasty, who ruled here until the beginning of the 16th century, attracted the best craftsmen to decorate the castle, including Leonardo da Vinci, who painted several rooms with his frescoes. True, they have not reached our days.

After the outbreak of the Italian Wars, the castle was occupied by the French king Louis XII. However, under his successor the formidable fortress fell into disrepair. In 1521, a powder magazine located in the Filaret Tower exploded due to a lightning strike. Later, under the Spaniards, a soldier garrison was placed in the castle, and new fortifications in the form of a six-pointed star grew around the old walls of the fortress. After the fall of the ducal power and the arrival of French troops in 1799, a spacious square was laid out in front of the castle by order of Napoleon. A large-scale reconstruction of the fortress, within which the moat was restored, was carried out in 1833 by the architect Luca Beltrami, and at the beginning of the 20th century, the Filarete Tower, destroyed by the explosion, was also restored according to ancient drawings.

Now the castle is open to the public: tourists can walk around its territory and fortress walls. The main entrance is located under the central clock tower. In addition, the castle houses seven interesting museums. These are the Pinacoteca, which houses paintings by Titian, Canaletto, Tiepolo, Tintoretto and other great Italian painters, the Museum of Ancient Art, where you can see Michelangelo's last unfinished sculpture "Pieta Rondanini", the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Egyptian Museum, the prehistoric collection of the Archaeological Museum of Milan, the collection applied arts, the Museum of Antique Furniture and Wooden Sculpture, as well as the collection of prints by Achille Bertarelli.

Opening hours: the castle is open daily from 7:00 to 18:00 in winter, from 7:00 to 19:00 in summer. The castle museums are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 17:30, the museum ticket office is open until 17:00. Museums are closed on Mondays, as well as on holidays: December 25, January 1, May 1 and Easter Monday.
Ticket prices: admission to the castle is free. A visit to the museums for an adult visitor costs 3 euros; for students and pensioners over 65 years old - 1.5 euros. Visitors under 25 years of age, journalists, disabled people with accompanying persons, museum workers, and members of accredited associations have the right to free entry.

Free admission to museums is available on Fridays, from 14:00 to 17:30, on other days from 16:30 to 17:30. You can also purchase a subscription. The cost of visiting for three days is 7 euros (3.5 euros for preferential categories), for a month - 8 euros (4 euros for preferential categories), a season pass - 25 euros (12.5 euros for preferential categories).

Address: Castello Sforzesco, Piazza Castello, 20121, Milano, Italy.

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- Indeed, the Sforzesco Castle has a lot in common with the Kremlin. And all because the Milanese architects who worked on the project of the Moscow Kremlin took the appearance of the Sforzesco fortress as a model, namely, the shape of the towers and the crown of the battlements crowning the walls are well guessed. Over the course of seven centuries, the castle changed owners, was destroyed and rebuilt. This is undoubtedly one of the most important attractions of Milan, and along with the famous Duomo, it can act as a kind of calling card of the city.
- You can get to the castle by the following public transport:: №18, 37, 50, 58, 61, 94;
-metro:: № 1, 2, 4, 12, 14, 19.

branch MM1 Cairoli (Cadorna - Cairoli), branch MM2 Cadorna-Lanza (Cadora - Lanza);

buses

trams

On the walls of the castle you can see various ancient coats of arms. It creates a complete feeling of immersion in medieval times.

Walls overgrown with vegetation only enhance this effect.

You can enter the territory of the castle-fortress through the main gate located in the Filarete tower. Its height reaches 71 meters.

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The tower is decorated with a bas-relief of the Italian monarch Umberto I. Also at the top of the first tier are heraldic frescoes and an image of the patron saint of Milan, Saint Ambrose.

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You can enter the castle grounds completely free of charge. You will only have to pay for visiting museums (Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Historical Museum, Museum of Antique Furniture, Museum of Wooden Sculpture, Museum of Rare Musical Instruments). Entrance to each costs 4 euros, a single ticket costs 15 euros. We decided to just walk around the area.

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The castle is open to visitors daily from 7:00 to 18:00 (in summer until 19:00).

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Filarete Tower from the inside.

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A little bit of history. The Milan Castle was originally built in the 14th century. as the government residence of the Visconti family. However, after the proclamation of the Ambrosian Republic, it was dismantled by a crowd of rebel people. In the middle of the 15th century. was rebuilt by Francesco Sforza. In the second half of the 15th century. Leonardo da Vinci was involved in decorating the castle.

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During the Italian Wars, Lodovico Sforza left Milan, and the French king Louis XII settled in the castle. Under his successor Francis, the castle fell into disrepair; in 1521 The powder warehouse in the Filarete tower was struck by lightning, causing it to explode, after which the tower was dismantled. The Spanish governor Ferrante Gonzaga, having begun to strengthen the city, built the Sforza Castle in the center of the new Milanese fortifications in the shape of a star. Barracks for 2000 soldiers were organized in the castle.

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During the Revolutionary Wars, Milan was again occupied by the French, who were briefly driven out of the city by A.V. Suvorov in April 1799. After the return of the French, local patriots presented Napoleon with a petition that Castello Sforzesco should share the fate of the Bastille as a symbol of the autocracy they hated. Instead of destroying the castle, Napoleon ordered the creation of a larger square in front of it. In 1833 A significant restoration of the Sforzesco Castle was carried out, also in 1900. The famous Filarete Tower was also restored.

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Quiet and peaceful courtyard.

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Surprisingly, although this is one of the main attractions of Milan, during our visit there were no crowds of tourists, or rather, somehow they did not create any noise and fuss. On the contrary, you could slowly and calmly stroll around the territory, looking at the ancient buildings.

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I can’t say that the Sforza Castle touched me to the core. I definitely don’t want to come back here, but if you’re in Milan, it’s definitely worth a visit to get in touch with the history of the city.

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If you walk from the Filarete tower through the entire territory of the castle, you can go to Sempione Park, created in 1893. The park area is large, locals and tourists love to have a small picnic here on the grass or, for example, go for a run.

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The main decoration of the park is the “Arch of Peace”, created by order of Napoleon in the 19th century. It was conceived as an analogue of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. They even say that the Arch of Peace and the Arc de Triomphe are located along the same axis.

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In the next post about Milan, we will go on a short tour of the ancient churches of the city. Do not miss! :)

Initially, Sforza Castle was built by Duke Galeazzo Visconti, a representative of a powerful dynasty that ruled for more than a hundred years. The fortress appeared in the first half of the 14th century, but by the middle of this century the duke had lost his influence, an uprising occurred in the city, and with the beginning of the Ambrosian Republic, the ducal possessions were destroyed by crowds of townspeople.

However, the republic did not last long, and in 1450 Francesco Sforza came to power and began restoring the fortress. He completely rebuilt the family residence, making it even more impregnable, erected reliable fortress walls and high towers, including the famous Filarete Tower. His son Galeazzo continued his father’s work and invited the famous architect Benedetto Ferrini to reconstruct the castle, who built two courtyards.

The next owner, Ludovico Sforza, decided that the building lacked elegance and invited the best Italian craftsmen to decorate it. It was then that frescoes by Leonardo da Vinci appeared here, which, unfortunately, have practically not survived to this day. But this was the end of the period of prosperity of Castello Sforzesco. With the outbreak of the Italian Wars, the Duke went into exile, and Louis XII moved into Sforza Castle.

Both the French king and the Spanish governor who replaced him in this territory required not an elegant secular palace, but a military fortification, so the ballrooms quickly turned into barracks for soldiers. At this time, the Filarete tower was turned into a gunpowder warehouse, and an accidental lightning strike in 1521 provoked a powerful explosion. As a result, the tower was almost completely destroyed.

When the French returned to the city under the leadership of Napoleon, some of the Milanese submitted a petition to the emperor to destroy the Sforza Castle, as a reminder of the ducal rule. Fortunately, Napoleon decided otherwise - he did not destroy the fortress, but, on the contrary, partially restored it and laid out a beautiful square in front of the entrance. However, a significant part of Castello Sforzesco was still used as a barracks.

After the fall of Napoleon in 1815, the castle was occupied by the Austrians, and for the next few years it was either strengthened or, on the contrary, suffered destruction during the confrontation between Milan and the Austrian army. The year 1859 turned out to be particularly destructive, when the Austrians abandoned the city and the fortress was plundered.

A new round in the history of Castello Sforzesco began with the unification in 1861. It was recognized as an architectural monument and was actively restored as such. Thus, the corner towers of the fortress wall were rebuilt, and in 1900, according to the surviving descriptions, the Filarete Tower was restored. A huge role in recreating the former appearance of the Sforza Castle was played by the architect Luca Beltrami, who led the process, relying on historical documents. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, Castello Sforzesco was opened to the public as a tourist attraction.

Restoration after WWII

With the outbreak of World War II, another difficult period began in the history of the Sforza Castle - in 1943, as a result of bombing, one of the courtyards was damaged, and part of the fortress walls was destroyed. After the end of hostilities, the architectural monument began to be restored, but the process turned out to be long and lasted until 1956. It was important not only to rebuild the walls, but also to recreate the interior decoration with historical accuracy and restore damaged frescoes. However, the Milanese coped with this task - the Sforza Castle once again regained its beauty and grandeur.

Castle today

Today, the grandiose Castello Sforzesco looks as luxurious as in the ancient times of its heyday. The former moat may have long been overgrown with grass, but the four corner towers still protrude powerfully from the walls. The entrance tower of Filarete has also been completely restored, at the top of which the castle clock “Sun of Justice” chimes time - it is installed here in memory of the first owner, Duke Visconti.

After passing through the arched doorway of the tower, you can get to the internal square of the Sforza Castle - Piazza delle Armi (Piazza del Armi). From here, through another fortress gate, there is a path deeper into the castle buildings, to two courtyards: Corte Ducale will be on the right, and Rochetta on the left. During times of uprisings and wars, Rochetta's courtyard was the safest corner of the fortress. As for Corte Ducale, it also bears the name of the Ducal Courtyard, since this is where the Duke’s rooms were once located.

Museums of the Sforzesco Castle

Today, there are several museums inside the towers and other buildings of Castello Sforzesco. There is an Archaeological Museum with a collection of exhibits from prehistoric times, an Egyptian Museum with real mummies, and a Museum of Antique Furniture. The art gallery contains paintings by Italian artists of the Renaissance and Rococo eras: Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Tiepolo and Giovanni Canal (Canaletto), the famous Titian Vecellio and others.

Among the most striking exhibits of the castle are two tombstones made by Italian sculptors of the 14th and 16th centuries, Bonino di Campione and Agostino Busti. Here is also the last work of the great Michelangelo - the unfinished Pieta Rondanini, a statue of the Virgin Mary with the body of Christ in her arms. The master worked on it 6 days before his death, but never finished it.

In the hall delle Asse, located in the Falconieri tower, you can see traces of the work of another Italian genius - frescoes by Leonardo da Vinci have been preserved here. The decoration of this room represents one of two works by Leonardo for the Sforzesco Castle that have survived to this day (the other is the garden pergola). This tower overlooks the Corte Ducale courtyard, and in the buildings of another Rochetta courtyard there is a museum of applied arts and musical instruments. They store exhibits dating back to the Middle Ages.

Underground tunnels

As befits a real ancient fortress, Sforza Castle has a developed network of underground passages. It is known that a significant part of them was built at the time when Ludovico Sforza lived here - the Duke wanted to be able to leave his residence at any time. According to legend, through one of the long tunnels one could go beyond the fortress walls and reach the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazia. Whether this is true or not is now impossible to verify, since the tunnel is destroyed.

The underground network was then expanded by the Spanish invaders. When converting the castle into a military garrison, they paid great attention to secret passages from the fortress, restored old corridors and created new ones. Some of the dungeons are well preserved, and today one of the tunnels is open to visitors - this is Strada Coperta delle Ghirlanda. It runs around the fortress under Sempione Park.

How to get there

Sforzesco Castle is located almost in the center of the city - even without a map you can walk here in 5-10 minutes from the Milan Duomo Cathedral.

The exact address: Piazza Castello, 20121 Milano

Option 1

Metro: Take line MM1 or MM2 to Cadorna Triennale station.

Option 2

Bus: routes No. 61, 94, 58, 50 to the “Cadorna” stop.

Option 3

Bus: routes No. 57 to the Lanza stop.

Option 4

Tram: routes No. 1 and 4 to the stop "Cairoli".

Option 5

Tram: routes No. 2, 12 and 14 to the “Via Cusani” stop.

Sforza Castle on the map

Attractions around the castle

Sempione Park

If you walk through the entire territory from the castle gate in the Filarete tower, you can get to the nearby Sempione Park. It is very popular with both tourists and Milanese residents, who often come here for a walk or a picnic on the grass. This park was founded back in 1893, and since then it has been a favorite vacation spot for Milanese.

Peace Arch

The main attraction of Sempione Park is the Arch of Peace, installed at the beginning of the 19th century by Napoleon. This majestic structure was founded in 1807, when, inspired by the victory on the Apennine Peninsula, the emperor decided to build in Milan something similar to the Parisian Arc de Triomphe. By the way, it is believed that the Peace Arch is located on the same straight line as its French sister.

Initially, Napoleon planned to make this new building the secret gate of Milan and solemnly enter the city through it. But these plans were not destined to come true - construction had to be frozen after the French left Italy. However, the arch at the Sforzesco Castle was still completed and is now another point of attraction for tourists and a popular place for photos.

The first architect to design the arch was Luigi Cagnona, but he did not live to see the construction completed. After Napoleon's departure, work continued only in 1826 under the leadership of Francesco Londio and Francesco Peverelli. The authors of the sculptures on its top were Sangiorgio (Sestiga of the World) and G. Putti (four goddesses of Victoria).

It is interesting that, according to the first project, the arch in the park near the castle was supposed to glorify the victories of Napoleon, but after his fall, adjustments had to be made. And then a second project was developed - an allegorical panel depicting the expulsion of the French. The Peace Arch received its name in honor of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, where the borders of European states destroyed by the conquests of Napoleon were restored.

Fountain in Piazza Castello

The square in front of the Sforza Castle is decorated with a large fountain, which the Milanese call the “Wedding Cake”. It really does resemble a cake in its shape, but that's not all - it is believed that the fountain makes romantic wishes come true if you throw a coin into it. Maybe that’s why lovers often take photos here.

This landmark has a complicated history. Appearing in the 30s of the 20th century, the fountain did not work for very long - during the Second World War it had to be turned off. Afterwards it was launched again, but during the construction of the metro line it turned out that this is where the Cairoli station should be located. And again the fountain was turned off and dismantled. Due to improper storage, its parts deteriorated, many of them had to be made anew, but in 2000, the “Wedding Cake” finally graced Piazza Castello again.

Excursions

All year round, thematic exhibitions dedicated to the history of one or another of its attractions open in the Sforza Castle. Among them there are also children's tours for visitors 4-11 years old - they include master classes, creative seminars and an educational program presented in a form understandable for children. Special family events are also held annually to celebrate Easter, Christmas, Halloween and other major holidays.

Every weekend at the Sforza Castle there are excursions to the underground tunnels and the upper galleries of the fortress walls. A walk along the battlements from tower to tower allows you to look at the fortress and its surroundings from above, as well as learn about the military history of these places. Dungeons reveal to visitors the secret life of the castle, its hidden passages and traps. However, this tour is only suitable for those who do not suffer from claustrophobia, and in addition, children under 10 years old are not allowed on it.

Numerous excursion bureaus offer, in addition to regular ones, costumed excursions. In these cases, visitors are told about the history of the fortress by Leonardo da Vinci himself or Isabella of Aragon, the wife of one of the Sforza dukes.

Opening hours and entry price

Opening hours:

Fortresses - from 07:00 to 19:30;
Museums - from 09:00 to 17:30.

In winter, the castle closes to the public an hour earlier. The last visitors to museums are admitted no later than 17:00.

Ticket prices:

Adult - 5 euros ( ~367 rub. );
Preferential - 3 euros ( ~220 rub. ).

You can also take a single ticket for all museums, which costs 12 euros ( ~880 rub. ) and is valid for 3 days.

Access to the castle grounds on weekdays is completely free for everyone. Payment is charged only for visiting museums located inside the fortress. But you can also enter them for free every Tuesday after 14:00 and on any other day an hour before closing.

Before your visit, check the information at.

The Sforzesco Castle has remained for centuries one of the most significant, most important buildings in Milan. Key moments in the history of the city, its defeats and victories are associated with it. Over many years, the fortress died several times and, like a Phoenix, was reborn to life. Today, its strict, harsh beauty recalls its former power and creates a unique atmosphere of the revived past of Italy.

We recommend choosing comfortable shoes and spending the whole day walking around the castle, visiting all its museums. And if you get tired, you can relax on the benches in the shady Sempione Park or complement your excursion with a visit to the Milan Aquarium. It is located on the outskirts of the park and will surprise you with both its elegant façade and the 26 aquariums located inside with sea and river inhabitants.

The inner tower was built under Galeazzo II Visconti in 1358-1368. She defended the entrance gate of Porta Jovia. In the XIV-XV centuries the castle was expanded. It became quadrangular in plan with four corner towers. The construction was supervised by Francesco Sforza (1450-1466). After his death, the fortress became a magnificent residence. The best artists and architects, including Leonardo and Bramante, worked on its main objects - the Armory Square, the Ducal Court and the Portico of the Elephant, the Rochetta Citadel and the Ponticella Bridge.

But today the castle is not only a monument to the past, but also an important cultural center, home to the Milan Pinacoteca and the City Museums with art collections.

Filarete Tower

Tower of Filarete in Castello Sforzesco / passipermilano.com

This tower houses the main entrance to the castle. Today it is the main symbol of Milan. It was rebuilt in 1905 and dedicated to Umberto I of Savoy, who was killed a few years earlier.

The original tower was destroyed in 1521 by a fire at a gunpowder magazine. Engineers and architects from different eras worked on it, including Filarete and, possibly, Bramante.

During the historical reconstruction of the tower, the engineer Beltrami used the preserved perimeter of the walls, archival documents, iconographic evidence, and examples of the castles of Cusago and Vigegnano.

Pinakothek

The City Pinakothek is located on the second floor of the Ducal Court (Corte Ducale) of the Sforzesco Castle. Like the Brera Pinacoteca and the Ambrosian Pinacoteca, it houses the city's great artistic heritage. The 1,500 paintings on display allow you to take an artistic journey through the art of different periods, from the Lombard late Gothic to the Renaissance (paintings by Foppa, Bergognone and Bramantino), and admire the famous works of Andrea Mantegna and Antonello da Messina.

Fresh water reservoir

Inside the northern and southern round towers of the castle, fresh water reservoirs have been preserved, which played an important role in the water supply of Milan at the beginning of the 20th century. The installation and adjustment of the tanks was carried out by the architect Luca Beltrami, who was entrusted with restoration work in the castle.

The first tank was designed and placed in the east tower, on the right when looking at the main entrance. It was metal and served as a pressure regulator in the water supply system. A second tank was placed in the south tower ten years later. At the time, its reinforced concrete structure was considered a bold and innovative solution.

Axial Hall

The Sala delle Asse, or Axial Hall, is notable because Leonardo worked on it during the reign of Sforza. It is part of the castle's Museum of Ancient Art route and is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 to 19:30 (Thursday until 22:30). No advance reservation required. The cost of an entrance ticket is 5 euros, a reduced ticket is 3.50.

During EXPO 2015, restoration work will be suspended to allow unimpeded access to the hall. High-resolution images and holograms will be projected onto the walls and ceiling.

Spanish Hospital - New Museum "Pieta Rondanini"

Pieta Rondanini by Michelangelo / tgcom24.mediaset.it

The old hospital had never been open to the public before. It was built in the mid-16th century for the Spanish garrison of the Sforza Castle. And now it displays the last statue of Michelangelo.

The master's last work, Pietà Rondanini, remained unfinished. But the dramatic nature of the composition is striking: the figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary appear from the marble, mourning her dead son. This work is considered the spiritual testament of the great sculptor, who worked on the statue until the last days of his life. The unfinished statue was found in his Roman apartment, and then its traces were lost until it was found in the house of the Marquis Giuseppe Rondanini, a refined Roman art collector. After a series of resales, she finally found herself in a specially designated room at the Sforza Castle.

Sforza Castle (Castello Sforzesco or Castello Sforza) is one of the most interesting historical monuments of Milan, which left an indelible impression on me. Truly majestic, beautiful and austere, it is located in the historical center of the modern city. Filippo Visconti died in 1447, and Francesco would soon become Duke of Milan and the founder of the Sforza dynasty. But before that, in the years following the death of Filippo and preceding the Duchy of Sforza, the Milanese, tired of the pro-imperial policies of the Visconti, decided to restore democratic rule and proclaimed the creation of the Ambrosian Republic. The castle-fortress, built by this time, as a reminder of the despotic power, was partially destroyed, and the stone of its walls and structures was used by the Republicans to strengthen the city walls, as a symbol of Milan and its glorious past. However, not much time passed, and the euphoria of the first period of the republic gave way to turmoil, unrest and the decline of the city economy, which forced the townspeople to turn to Francesco Sforza with a request to restore order in the city. And soon, in 1450, Francesco, with the support of his wife, Bianca Visconti, this extraordinary woman who played a significant role in the life of Milan in the 15th century, proclaimed himself the heir to the Visconti dynasty and Duke of Milan. Francesco decided to restore the castle, make it a decoration of the city and, at the same time, a defensive structure against possible external enemies. The high walls surrounding the castle, shaped like a square with a side of about 200 meters, were erected on the foundations of the former fortress. To decorate the wall that opens up a view of the castle from the city (the so-called façade wall), the architect Antonio Averumino, better known as Filaret, was invited from Venice. His creation is the central tower above the entrance gate (1452). It is still called Filaretova. Three years later, the architect Bartolomeo Gadio built two monumental cylindrical towers at the corners of the façade of the palace. This wall with Filaretova and corner towers still offers a magnificent view of the palace from Dante Street. Francesco Sforza died in 1466. His son and successor Galeazzo Maria, developing the idea of restoring and expanding the castle as a ducal residence (Francesco Scorza and Bianca did not live in the castle, their residence remained the palace on Cathedral Square), invited the architect Benedetto Ferrini, who proposed a large, square-shaped wall inside castle, build two courtyards with palace buildings for the Duke's family (Rochetta Courtyard and Ducal Courtyard). At the same time, the luxurious interiors of the castle were created, some of which can still be seen today. The palace becomes the residence of the Dukes of Milan; Galeazzo and his wife Bona of Savoy move here from the city palace. During the reign of Duke Lodovico Moro, brother of Galeazzo (late 70s - 90s of the 15th century), the Sforza Castle was one of the most beautiful and rich ducal courts in Italy. In order for him to become so brilliant, Lodovico invited Leonardo da Vinci and the architect Donato Bramante to Milan. Bramante completed the decoration of the Rochetta courtyard; according to his design and under his leadership, a bridge was built across the deep outer moat to the entrance gate of the palace. Leonardo da Vinci decorated the walls of the hall della Aste with frescoes (some of the frescoes have survived to this day). *** In the last years of the 15th century, the so-called Italian Wars began - wars between France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire for dominance over the numerous fragmented city-states of the Apennine Peninsula. These wars were fought with varying degrees of success. In one of the episodes of these wars, tragic for Milan and the Sforza Castle, the King of France, Louis XII, declared his rights to Milan (distant relatives on the maternal side) and in 1499 captured this largest city in Lombardy, which was the key to the entire peninsula. A year later, Lodovico Moro, with the help of the Swiss, returned briefly to Milan, but soon his troops were defeated by the French, he himself was captured and spent the rest of his life as a prisoner in one of the French castles. From the moment of the seizure of power, Louis XII, who proclaimed himself Duke of Milan, began the gradual transformation of Sforza Castle from a luxurious residence into an ordinary military fortress. The interior spaces receive a different practical purpose or are destroyed, and a new system of military fortifications appears around the castle. In 1521, an explosion occurred in the Filaret Tower due to a lightning strike (apparently, gunpowder reserves were also stored here along with ammunition). Not only the tower was destroyed, but also a significant part of the facade wall. During the ongoing Italian Wars, French dominance gave way to Spanish and then Austrian dominance in 1526. During the period of Spanish rule, the Sforza Castle, which continued to play the role of a defensive fortress, was surrounded by additional fortifications and massive ramparts, which took the form of first a 6-pointed and then a 12-pointed star, in accordance with the most popular fortification theories of the time. The castle became a fortified fort with barracks for 2,000 soldiers. Drawings and literary sources of the time indicate that a hospital, a tavern, ice and food storage facilities, and two military churches were also located here. The halls, painted by Leonardo and Bramantino, were converted into utility rooms. Austrian domination, which lasted in Milan for about two centuries until the unification of Italy into a single state in 1861, was interrupted for a relatively short time (from 1796 to 1815) by Napoleon. Taking advantage of the fact that with the arrival of Napoleon's troops the ducal power had fallen again, some Milanese professing extreme views again demanded the destruction of the Sforza Palace, with which the power of the dukes was associated. By this time, many of the walls and towers of the old palace had already been destroyed or were close to destruction. But the danger of destroying the palace had passed - Napoleon, contrary to these demands, decided to restore the old part of the castle-fortress to house his troops. It was not possible to begin restoration work at this time - in April 1799, troops led by A.V. Suvorov approached Milan (Russia, England and Austria took joint military action against Napoleon's expansion), the city was besieged and taken by Suvorov's army. However, soon Suvorov had to, at the request of the Austrian emperor, leave with the army for Switzerland (this was his famous crossing of the Alps). After Suvorov left Italy, Napoleon defeated the Austrian army near the Italian village of Marengo and formed the Cisalpine Republic in northern and central Italy, the capital of which was Milan. Troops were again stationed in the castle - this time Napoleonic ones. The ducal church was turned into a stable, the ducal apartments into barracks and dormitories, the frescoes were whitewashed with lime, etc. (By the way, in 1812, during Napoleon’s campaign in Russia, part of his troops that captured Moscow was stationed in the Sheremetev estate near Moscow - Kuskovo. And there the same picture of destruction and sometimes direct robbery of historical and cultural values by Napoleon’s soldiers was observed, and The cavalry was placed in the Great Orangery Palace). However, the positive actions of Napoleon in preserving the Sforzesco castle-palace in its previous form include the demolition of numerous ramparts and fortifications built by the Spaniards. To bring the mangled and dug-up land around the castle (and this is a huge territory) into proper shape, the architects Luigi Canonica and Giovanni Antolini were invited, who intended to surround the palace with public gardens, build a pantheon, a national museum, etc. here. However, this project was not fully implemented. Only part of the territory was developed and turned into a vast public garden. Another famous undertaking of Napoleon was the construction of the Arc de Triomphe near the palace. It was supposed to become another Milanese gate, the opening of which would be on the Paris-Milan axis (now this arch is located in Sempione Park and is called the Arch of Peace, Arca della Pace, but more about it a little later in this article). In 1815, after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, the Austrians returned to Milan and it became the main city of Lombardy and Venice. The revolutionary events of 1848, the uprisings of the Milanese against Austrian dominance and the suppression of these uprisings by the Austrian Marshal Radetzky led to further destruction of part of the walls and structures of the castle. *** Restoration of the palace began in the middle of the 19th century. But it was really started only after the creation of a single independent Italian state in 1861. At this time, the castle was not only included in the list of monuments subject to priority reconstruction, but was also recognized as one of the main symbols of the city. The reconstruction was carried out according to a project proposed by the Milanese architect Luca Beltrami and based on a detailed study of all historical documents, literary sources and works of fine art related to the creation of the fortress-palace over all six centuries of its existence. Work in the palace began with the restoration of the corner cylindrical towers of the facade of the palace. By the way, these towers were later equipped with drinking water storage facilities - thus, it was possible to combine the problem of restoration of historical values with solving the problems of life support and cultural life of the city. The partially restored palace was opened for the first visits in May 1900, and its complete reconstruction was completed in 1905 - it was then that the restoration of the Filaret Tower was completed. At the same time, the palace was transferred to Milan and the Milanese. Now the Sforza Palace is a complex of museums famous for their collections of antiques, including sculptures, paintings, tapestries, ancient weapons and musical instruments, as well as a museum of archaeological excavations. Of particular interest among the exhibits is “Pieta Rondanini” - the last sculpture of the great Michelangelo, which remained unfinished