Frascarolo Castle

Frascarolo Castle, locally known as Castello di Frascarolo, lies in the hills west of the town of Induno Olona, in the Varese province in the Lombardy region in Italy.

The castle is believed to date back to the 9th century and maybe be a Longobard fort.

Frascarolo Castle was, however, first mentioned in 1160 when the Archbishop of Milan, Umberto I da Pirovano, used it to defend Varese against the Comaschi family who had sided with Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, in the war between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.

From the 12th century on the castle was owned by the Abbey of San Gemolo in nearby Valganna. In the next centuries it was plundered several times, most notably in 1511 when it was taken and sacked by Swiss raiders from nearby Mendrisio.

The Marquis of Marignano; Gian Battista Medici, bought Frascarolo in 1543. The Medici's then restored and altered the castle. This made it lose its defensive appearance and turned it into a residential rural castle. The Medici's still own the castle to this day.

Frascarolo is still privately owned and can not be visited.

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