Walls of Castel Goffredo

The Walls of Castel Goffredo form a medieval fortification system made up of two concentric rings with seven circular towers positioned around the settlement. The layout was designed to defend the urban core using overlapping fields of view from the towers.

The first fortified perimeter was built between 900 and 1000 CE on the remains of a Roman military fort. By December 1430, the walls were well established and documented as an important medieval defensive system.

The Sant'Antonio Tower and sections within Palazzo Gonzaga-Acerbi display medieval military construction methods that reveal how defenders built protective structures. These remains show the building techniques that were common for fortifications of that era.

Visitors can spot marble pillars from the original Picaloca Gate at the entrance to Via Mantova, which mark an important historical access point. This location serves as a helpful landmark for understanding where the gates were positioned and how the walls surrounded the settlement.

The street layout inside the walls follows deliberately curved paths that were designed to confuse attackers during sieges. This maze-like arrangement was a purposeful defensive strategy to prevent invaders from moving easily through the settlement.