Castelvecchio and the Ponte Scaligero

In 1354, threatened by insurrections, Cangrande II of the ruling della Scala family moved his residence from the center of the city to a more easily defended position on the river at the city wall. The Castelvecchio combined the della Scala residence with a soldiers’ yard, a controlling tower, and a private bridge that eventually served the family as an escape route to Germany. Napoleon, during his occupation, closed the courtyard on the river side to protect it from the Austrians, who occupied the other side of the river.

The 1943 trial of Gian Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law and former foreign minister, was held in the Castelvecchio, after which Ciano was executed by a firing squad nearby. When the Germans fled the city at the end of World War II, they destroyed the Ponte Scaligero.

After World War I, part of the castle became a museum, which it is today. The galleries display an impressive collection of romanesque and gothic sculpture and paintings. Some of the rooms still have the original frescoes. It’s difficult to take pictures of art in an uncontrolled environment, but I’ve chosen a pair of Madonna and Child paintings by Giovanni Bellini because next to it, is one of the occasional plastic reproductions that intrigued me. I finally asked a guard what they were. “For the visually impaired,” he told me. I’ve never seen that in any other art gallery. Perhaps I just haven’t looked.

The decorative battlements on the Ponte Scaligero and the Castelvecchio are swallow-tail merlons, characteristic of the Ghibellines, the political party that supported the Holy Roman Emperor and to which the della Scala family belonged.

The bridge is very popular because you can climb up to look over the battlements in places and there are numerous selfie photo opps. Tourists rarely seem to step off the far end, which is a pity because the other side of the road is an uncrowded outdoor bar, an ornamental wading lake, and a children’s merry-go-round and playground. The bar is my favorite place to spend an hour or so with a macchiatone and a book.Read more