Historic castle above the Sarca Valley

The castle consists of a wall surrounding the central courtyard, which is overlooked by the various buildings. It can be divided into two parts: - a habitable part to the south with buildings dating mostly from the 16th century. - a ruined part to the north, which includes the keep. A 12-hectare park stretches around the castle. Castel Madruzzo is a medieval castle that dominates the hamlet of the same name in the municipality of Madruzzo in the province of Trento. It gave its name to two different noble families: Madruzzo, of which the latter in particular had a very important role in the history of Trentino. The first documents about the castle date back to 1161, when the Prince-Bishop of Trento Adalpreto II gave it as a fief to Gumpone and his nephew Boninsegna. The latter were the founders of the first Madruzzo family. During the conflicts between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, the Madruzzo family always remained loyal to the bishops of Trento and for this reason was attacked by the Campo and Seiano families, who occupied the castle. At the end of the fighting, the manor house returned to the Madruzzo family. In 1380, the male line of Madruzzo died out and after some inheritance disputes, the castle passed to the Roccabruna family in 1389. The latter, overburdened by debt, were no longer able to cover the costs of managing the castle after a few years and sold it in 1441 to Sigismondo Stetten from Carinthia, captain of Segonzano Castle. But even he was unable to maintain the economic commitment that the castle required and sold it to Aliprando, the son of Guglielmo di Denno-Nanno, in 1447. Aliprando died childless and his fortune passed to his nephew Gian Gaudenzio, who called himself Madruzzo and adopted a coat of arms based on that of the previous family. He improved the castle considerably, making it more comfortable and adapting the defenses to the new firearms. One of his sons was Cristoforo Madruzzo, who founded the Council of Trento and was the first of the prince-bishops of this family to rule Trentino for more than a century. During this time, the castle was extended and embellished several times and served as the residence of the prince-bishops and as a place for celebrations and important guests. In 1658, the male line of the second Madruzzo family died out with the death of Carlo Emanuele Madruzzo. The castle then passed by marriage to the Lenoncourt family in 1661, who in turn died out and left their possessions to the Carretto di Genova in 1691. In 1703, during the march of General Vendôme in Trentino as part of the War of the Spanish Succession, the castle was set on fire and almost completely destroyed. Rebuilt in the 19th century, it soon fell into disrepair, partly due to the disinterest of the Carretto family, who sold it in 1873. Purchased by the Larcher family, it was partially renovated and also housed Oreste Barattieri and Antonio Fogazzaro. In 1963, it was sold to Montagna from Milan.