Bellusco Castle

Bellusco Castle, locally known as Castello di Bellusco, lies in the town of the same name, in the Monza and Brianza province in the Lombardy region in Italy.

Bellusco Castle was built in 1467 by Martino Da Corte on the ruins of an earlier fortification dating back to the 10th century. Originally the castle was encircled by a wet moat. It was strategically situated near a crossing on the old road between Milan and Bergamo.

Property of the castle later passed first to the Calchi and then to the Carcano family. The castle was alienated from them for a couple of years during the first decade of the 17th century because of lawsuits and large debts and assigned to the Vimercati family. After it was returned to the Carcanos they rearranged the castle into a fortified manor. Apparently it was still very defensible because in 1631 it successfully withstood a siege by 200 Spanish soldiers in the service of the governor of Milan; Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 3rd Duke of Feria. The soldiers eventually resorted to sacking the village and destroying the church.

Heirs of the Carcanos sold Bellusco Castle to Giuseppe de Capitani Vimercati in 1817. After his death in 1836 it passed to the Marquis Gaetano Perego. From then on its owners did not reside in the castle anymore and the complex was increasingly divided up into separate housing units which were sold or rented out. At the end of the 20th century the entire complex was acquired by the municipality.

At present the castle is still mostly divided up into several residences. Its exterior can freely be visited. A curious rural castle.

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