Castle Brancaleoni, Medieval castle in Piobbico, Italy

Castle Brancaleoni in Piobbico is a complex of buildings added over time to a 13th-century fortress core, stretched along the ridge of the rock above the town centre. Its rectangular courtyard, built in 1470-1480, is surrounded by an arcaded portico on Doric columns and recalls the courtyard of the Ducal Palace of Urbino. A tower with a right-turning clock rises above the residence.

The Brancaleoni family built this fortress in the 13th century as a defensive structure. Between 1573 and 1587, they renovated it extensively into a grand Renaissance residence.

The castle now houses the Museo Civico Brancaleoni and a permanent display of clothes and jewels from the Alessandro Righi Luperti collection. In the count Antonio II's private room, called the "camera greca", frescoes of Greek history and myth were painted in 1585 by Giorgio Picchi, with stuccoes by the school of Federico Brandani.

The castle stands on a rock ridge above the centre of Piobbico, reached on foot through the village streets. Inside, the tour moves from the entrance courtyard with its clock tower to the noble chapel of San Carlo Borromeo and the Greek Room. The civic museum and the Righi Luperti collection of clothes and jewels occupy rooms of the palace.

The clock on the tower above the entrance runs clockwise but with the numbers set counterclockwise, so the hands move in the opposite direction to a normal clock. The chapel inside the castle is dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo.