Sforzesco Castle

The Sforza Castle was built in the second half of the 14th century by the Visconti family. During the following centuries the castle passed by a domination to the other: after the Visconti, the Sforza lived there qieht their court and thenit suffered different foreign dominations, French, Spanish and Austrian. Even the function changed, from a Renaissance court to a military fortress. At the end of the 19th century the military garrison was moved ant the castle was completely restored to host cultural instituions of the municipality, as the civic museums, libraries and archives. The main restoration at the end of the 19th century was carried on by architect Luca Beltrami; another important restoration of the internal rooms of museums and officies was made bu BBPR after II world war. Inside the castle there are the Rondanini Pietà Museum, the last work realized by Michelangelo, the Sala delle Asse painted by Leonardo da Vinci, the Collections of Ancient Art - which include mainly Lombard sculptures between the V century XVI - and those of Applied Arts, among the most famous in the world. The Pinacoteca hosts Lombard, Venetian and Flemish works between 1400 and 1800, and the Museum of Musical Instruments is one of the most important in Europe. The castle spaces also host the Civic Historical Archives and the Trivulziana Library, the Art Library, the Achille Bertarelli Collection of Prints, the Civic Photographic Archive, the Drawing Cabinet and the Numismatic Cabinet and Medagliere.