Ameglia Castle was mentioned from the 10th century among the castles belonging to the Bishopof Luni. Ameglia was an attractive site, as it was equipped with a court, a fish market and aport and was then supposed to have a great economic grouth. The castle was also mentioned in another document of 1174, in which it is written that the inhabitants of Pietracoperta – a territory destroyed by the Genoese - had lived in Ameglia and equipped it with a defensive tower during that year.
The castle became then the residence of the Bishop of Luni until the 14th century, when it was owned by Castruccio Castracani. In 1470 the village and the fortress were sold for 6.000 gold ducati to the Banco di San Giorgio from the Viscounts. From that moment on, the destiny of this area was linked to Genoa.
The defensive function of the castle ended in the 19th century, when it became the seat of the Municipality of Ameglia.
The construction period is uncertain, but it could date back to the Late Middle Ages due to its position close to the ridge between the moth of the Marinasco River and the monastery of Santa Croce in Punta Corvo. It was used as path to reach the hill of Montemarcello. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the village was built around the castle.
The structure of the castle is located on top of a hill overlooking the valley and stands in the middle of the village. The fortress is composed by a 2 floors rectangular building – where there is evidence of several reconstructions – by a circular tower and bythe trapezoidal defensive walls. Starting from the core of the castle, along the centuries new houses were built around the fortress. This phenomenon originated the fortified village, whose structure consists in concentric circles.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.