Castello di Agazzano, Medieval fortress in Agazzano, Italy.
Castello di Agazzano is a fortified complex on the edge of Agazzano's centre in the Luretta valley, near Piacenza, made of two adjoining buildings: a Renaissance rocca and an 18th-century palazzo. The rocca, rebuilt in 1475, has a rectangular plan with battered walls marked by a horizontal string course; of its four original round corner towers, two remain on the entrance facade. A ravelin with a drawbridge, now replaced by a masonry entrance, led to the gate.
Giovanni Scotti founded the fortification in the 13th century as a defensive structure for the region. Major reconstruction in 1475 following fire damage introduced Renaissance architectural elements that reshaped its appearance.
The Scotti and Gonzaga coats of arms are carved inside the complex, a trace of the 15th-century marriage between Giovanni Maria Scotti and Luigia Gonzaga di Novellara. The site belongs to the Association of Castles of the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Pontremoli, and the two buildings are still known by their separate names, the rocca and the palazzo.
The complex belongs to the Association of Castles of the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Pontremoli. The rocca, rebuilt in 1475, keeps two of its four round corner towers on the entrance facade; its moat was replaced by a garden in the 18th century. Access ran through a ravelin with a drawbridge, later replaced by a masonry entrance.
The 18th-century residence was built on the ruins of the castle that stood beside the rocca, not on a village site. In 1741, after the death of the last heir Ranuccio, the complex passed to his eldest daughter Margherita, who brought it as dowry to Count Girolamo Anguissola of Podenzano; he then added Scotti to his own surname.
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