Pandino Castle, Medieval castle in Pandino, Italy

Pandino Castle is a medieval fortress in Lombardy with four corner towers that define a spacious inner courtyard. The courtyard is surrounded by pointed-arch arcades and columns that form the heart of the structure.

Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, and his wife Beatrice Regina della Scala commissioned the castle between 1355 and 1361; letters sent by Bernabò from Pandino in 1357 and on 31 October 1361 show it was already habitable. Conceived as a courtly residence open to the landscape rather than a fortress, it served his stays in the countryside and his hunting in the game-rich woods around Pandino. In the 15th century the Sforza added two towers at the entrances; the D'Adda family held it from 1552 until the 19th century, after which it housed farmers and farm stores. Pandino municipality bought it in 1947 and began the restoration.

The walls display original frescoes with geometric patterns and heraldic symbols reflecting local rulers and their power. You can see these decorations in the courtyard, which preserves the artistic heritage of the region.

The castle is the seat of Pandino's municipal offices, so the inner courtyard is reached through the town centre. Of the four original corner towers, only the two of the eastern wing remain intact; the western pair was reduced in the 19th century. The moat still runs around the building.

The two western corner towers were halved in the 19th century, and in the 20th century two corner towers fell into ruin; only the eastern wing's towers remain intact. The castle was bought by the Pandino municipality in 1947, which began the restoration.