Padenghe Castle, Padenghe Sul Garda, Italy

Padenghe Castle is situated on a hill from where it enjoys a beautiful panorama, has retained its original structure built between the 9th and 10th century on the ruins of fortifications of Roman times. What we can now admire is a reconstruction of the 13th and the 14th century. At the time, the castle was surrounded by a moat, and in it there were houses on three parallel rows, built with the walls. In 1154 it was recognized among the goods granted by Emperor Federico Barbarossa to the bishop of Verona Teobaldo and until 1328 was among those often contended between Brescia and Verona, when it became Scaliger; Later, however, they contested the Duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice but remained in the hands of the Serenissima from 1520 to 1796. Subsequently, the original ditch was built in defense of the castle, while in the 1960s it was completely restored. Not far away is the medieval church of Sant’Emiliano.

The castle has preserved its original structure. With solid walls made of large stones, there are three towers (the middle one has collapsed) on the north-western side. The plain square main tower rises above the entrance, which still has visible traces of openings for the drawbridge and a footbridge. The chatelaine and troops lived in the castellino ('little castle'), which was built at a later date within the castle walls.

References:

Garda Tourism

User Reviews

Blaž Ulaga (10 months ago)
Small castle with a few cozy houses inside the walls. The view was nice but not as good as I expected - it was a bit foggy. There is parking space which was only half full at the time of our visit. BTW, there is an automatic toilet but be ready for disguisting experience ?‍♂️

Jerry Kezhaya (2 years ago)
Fairly well restored castle. They have turned it into a small theater for live performances as well as apartments.

Aggie Vierling (2 years ago)
Interesting place up on a hill overlooking Lake Garda. Very medieval, and well kept. It was foggy the day of our visit but I'm sure it is an excellent place to go to on a nice day. I noticed there was a sign posted at the front entrance stating that entrance is only allowed by residents. But most of the people there weren't.

Miloslav Cvik (3 years ago)
Very nice view. Most beautiful i must say. And still im confused why Italians build town in Castello. ☺️☺️ B

Jarosław Moc (3 years ago)
Nice to See. Small castle where live peoples.

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