Castle of Varese Ligure, Medieval castle in Varese Ligure, Italy.

The Castle of Varese Ligure, also called Fieschi Castle, stands on Piazza Castello at the northern end of the elliptical Borgo Rotondo. Its tall offensive tower, built in 1435 and known as the Piccinino tower, was originally fitted with a drawbridge; the lower cylindrical tower with a battered base was added between 1472 and 1479 under the Landi. The former Fieschi residence later housed the podestà and the prisons.

The Fieschi counts built the castle in the Middle Ages to close the northern end of their "Borgo Rotondo", the elliptical fortified village they laid out around the central square. In the 15th century the borgo withstood two sieges before falling to the condottiero Niccolò Piccinino, fighting for Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan; in 1435 the tall offensive tower was added, with a drawbridge and masons from the Lunigiana. A second, lower cylindrical tower was built under the Landi between 1472 and 1478-1479. Fieschi rule ended in 1547 after Gianluigi Fieschi's failed conspiracy against Andrea Doria, and the former residence became the seat of the podestà and the local prisons.

The name Borgo Rotondo comes from the elliptical ring of stone houses that encloses the castle square, with porticoes below for workshops and narrow alleys linking to the main street. The castle now belongs to the municipality and hosts exhibitions, conferences and events.

The castle stands on Piazza Castello in the northern part of the Borgo Rotondo, the elliptical walled centre, so it is reached on foot through the village's porticoed lanes rather than by a trail. The building is owned by the municipality and used for exhibitions and conferences, so access to the interior depends on those events.

The fortress is partly enclosed by village buildings, forming an integrated whole that shows how fortifications and settlements grew together over time. Visitors can see how houses directly use the castle walls as their outer boundaries, blending the structures into one unified community space.