Proh Castle

Proh Castle, locally known as Castello di Proh, lies east of the village of Briona, in the Novara province in the Piedmont region in Italy.

Proh Castle was built in the early 15th century by Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the plain in front of the Novara Hills where a predecessor of the castle had been destroyed in the century before. Proh was probably not really built for military purposes, like the nearby castles at Briona, Barengo or Castellazzo Novarese, but more for recreation.

In 1449 Sforza granted the castle as a fief to the Counts of Tornielli, together with the castles at Briona and Barengo. The castle was shortly occupied by the troops of Ludovico Sforza in 1495. In 1597 it passed to the Caccia family while in 1672 it was acquired by the Cattaneo family from Novara.

By the 19th century it was owned by the Fantoni family who turned the castle into a farm. Since 1917 it is owned by the Marelli family, who restored it in the 1960s. The Marellis loaned out the castle to a foundation in 2020 who are in the process of turning the castle and its lands into the Cultural Park of the Novara Hills.

When I visited Proh Castle was still standing empty but in time it will become a gateway to the cultural park. A very nice small castle.

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