Castello di Buronzo, Medieval fortress in Buronzo, Italy

Castello di Buronzo stands on a small rise in the Baraggia plain of the upper Vercellese. It is a rare consortial castle: the remains of fortifications and fortified houses built by the branches of the Buronzo family, occupying the whole historic centre of the town. A brick rocca with two-light windows decorated with Iberian majolica basins and a gate tower survive.

The castle is first documented in 1039, when Emperor Conrad II invested Guala di Casalvolone with the seigneurial possessions. In 1152 Frederick Barbarossa confirmed these holdings to Gualone di Casalvolone and granted him the right to levy tributes for maintaining and enlarging the village fortifications. In the 14th century the Buronzo family split into seven colonnellati, distinct family lines that chose to live together in the castle under common statutes. After Vercelli and its district passed to Savoy in 1427, Buronzo entered a period of peace and renewed prosperity.

The name Buronzo comes from the Casalvolone branch that split in the 12th century and later divided into seven colonnellati, family lines that chose to live together in the castle under shared statutes. The 1703 church in front of the tower-portal keeps the old castle chapel's dedication to Sant'Abbondio.

The castle occupies the historic centre of Buronzo, on a low rise in the Baraggia plain of the Alto Vercellese. The complex was recovered through the Comune di Buronzo and the Consorzio di bonifica della Baraggia with European Union structural funds assigned by the Regione Piemonte. The site is a set of fortifications and caseforti rather than a single building, so allow time to walk between the surviving structures.

Different sections of the fortress were built in separate periods, creating a visible record of how construction techniques and styles changed over the centuries. You can observe these layers clearly in the walls and towers throughout the site.