The Viscontean castle in the south west of the old town is home to the municipal and archaeological museum. Before a extensive demolition work began in 1531, this castle was far bigger. Its ancient gate and protective walls against flooding by the Maggia river stood where the pedestrian roundabout subways are today.

There was also an upper castle towards the Città Vecchia area, delimitated by a fortified wall and dominated by a round tower. The central nucleus of this fortress still exists. Its site, however, was developed between the 13th and 15th century. The Casorella palazzo was built in the late 16th century on the remains of earlier constructions.

The “Rivellino” shoreline section of Locarno Castle (1507) is one of the few fortified structures remaining of a larger fortress complex that was largely demolished by Swiss confederate forces in 1532. Of the structure, the northern end, two 90° walls and an eastern façade running at 45° to the protective wall still remain. The castle can be divided into two sections, one the same height as the façade and the other of only half the height. Extensive and complicated archival research has established many details of the castle’s construction and operation.

It was built during the French occupation of Locarno (1499-1513), which was then a borough of the dukedom of Milan, itself also occupied by the French. The castle was built in 1507 under the orders of the “grandmaître”, governor Charles II d’Amboise, lord of Chaumont and baron of Charenton, in the name of Louis XII of Valois-Orléans, king of France. The castle’s master builder may have been influenced by Florentine renaissance archetypes unknown in Milan. He possibly had knowledge of the building techniques used by Francesco di Giorgio Martini and the Sangallo family and may even have worked for the Martini family. Five years of research have unearthed a mass of evidence to suggest that the “Rivellino” shoreline fortress was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. Its attribution to Da Vinci is supported by leading experts, including Carlo Pedretti, one of the world’s leading authorities on Da Vinci’s works. Nevertheless, a great deal of archaeological excavation and structural survey work remains to be done to establish exact details of the condition, shape and size of the monument age by age and sector by sector.

Booking:
Optional

Access:
from April to October
from Thuesday to Sunday from 10.00  to 12.00 am / from 2.00 to 5.00 pm