Castello di Torrechiara

Torrechiara Castle is one of the most famous amongst the fortresses that were part of the feud of the estate of Pier Maria Rossi, Count of San Secondo and a great leader, who made renovations in the fifteenth century. At the end of his military activities, he retired here with Bianca Pellegrini of Como, who for his sake, had left her husband, Melchior d'Arluno. Pier Maria Rossi wanted to show testimony of the love in their relationship and in 1452 it seems he probably asked the painter Benedetto Bembo to decorate the fresco of the 'Gold Room', a tale of courtly love and chivalry, recounting the story of Pier Maria Rossi's passion for Bianca Pellegrini. The two lovers are represented as being struck by the arrows of a Blindfolded Cupid, while in the painting Bianca appears dressed in white as a pilgrim and following a path which touches all the castles of Pier Maria. Torrechiara, rectangular shaped, with three surrounding walls and corner towers, machicolations, and a large courtyard, was subject to various extensions and restorations in the seventeenth century, and the wide panoramic balconies opened to the side of the valley. The room on the second floor of the North-East side of the building is decorated with grotesques by Cesare Baglione.