Discover Castello Orsini-Odescalchi

The Castello Orsini-Odescalchi stands on the southern shore of Lake Bracciano, 30 km from Rome. Built in the fifteenth century, it was designed to be two things at once: a military defence and the residence of the feudal lords who held the place, the Orsini and the Borgia, both papal families. It is among the largest and best-kept castles in Italy and now houses a museum.

The Castello Orsini-Odescalchi is one of the most noteworthy examples of Renaissance military architecture in Italy, and its architect is the reason: Francesco di Giorgio Martini, who worked on the problem of how a fortress should be shaped once artillery existed. The building was begun in 1470 by Napoleone Orsini and completed by his son Virginio in 1485.

What makes it interesting is that it refused to choose. It was built to combine the functions of a military defence structure with those of a civilian residence for the feudal lords of the period -- the Orsini and the Borgia, both papal families -- so the same building has to work as a gun platform and as a house with frescoed ceilings. The corner towers do both jobs at once: one of them holds the Sala Papalina, a room named for a papal guest.

It has been renovated many times since its inception, and the result is a castle that reads as medieval from the town and as Renaissance in its plan. Events outside tested the design directly: after papal troops under Prospero Colonna ravaged the city and the castle in 1485, a new line of walls was built.

It started as a watchtower against raiders. The castle's earliest history is inferred to be linked to one of the numerous towers raised in the tenth century as a defence against Saracen attacks, as the ancient name Castrum Brachiani implies. In the eleventh century the Prefetti di Vico family acquired the neighbouring territory and turned the tower into a castle.

The Orsini made it a palace. Ferdinand Gregorovius dated the Orsini possession of Bracciano to 1234; from 1375 it was a papal possession, and in 1419 the Colonna pope Martin V confirmed the fiefdom in the Orsini branch of Tagliacozzo. Under that family Bracciano became a flourishing town famous throughout Italy for its castle, which was enlarged from 1470 by Napoleone Orsini and his son Virginio, to designs by Francesco di Giorgio Martini, and finished in 1485.

It was fought over for a generation. In 1481 it sheltered Sixtus IV from the plague; four years later papal troops under Prospero Colonna ravaged city and castle, and a new line of walls was built afterwards. In 1494 Charles VIII of France stopped at Bracciano on his march against Rome, which got the Orsini excommunicated. In 1496 Alexander VI sent his son Giovanni di Candia with a papal army to take the castle and the Orsini held it; Cesare Borgia tried a few years later and also failed.

The sixteenth century spent the money the fifteenth had made. In 1558 Paolo Giordano I Orsini married Isabella de' Medici, daughter of Cosimo I, and received the title duke of Bracciano. The family's lavish living eventually told on the city's finances. Paolo Giordano II, a patron of arts and literature who made Bracciano a centre of culture in Italy, was probably the last great ruler.

In 1696 it was sold, and the buyers are still here. The decline ended with the sale to Livio Odescalchi, nephew of Pope Innocent XI, whom the Emperor Leopold I made a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire for services in the war against the Turks. The Odescalchi still retain the castle. The French occupation cost it its valuable furniture, looted; the castle and estate then passed to Duke Marino Torlonia until 1848, when they were sold back to Prince Livio Odescalchi III.

Who owns the castle?

The Odescalchi family, who bought it in 1696 from the Orsini and still retain it. It passed to Duke Marino Torlonia for a period and was sold back to Prince Livio Odescalchi III in 1848.

Did the Borgias ever take it?

No. In 1496 Alexander VI's son Giovanni di Candia led a papal army against it and the Orsini successfully resisted; Cesare Borgia tried a few years later and was also unsuccessful.

Who designed it?

Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Construction was begun by Napoleone Orsini in 1470 and completed by his son Virginio in 1485.

What is the Sala Papalina?

A room in one of the corner towers commemorating the stay of Pope Sixtus IV in 1481, when he fled the plague in Rome. The rooms he used were frescoed by Taddeo and Federico Zuccari.

How do I get there from Rome?

The FR3 railway line connects Bracciano with Rome, at Ostiense and Valle Aurelia, in about 55 minutes. The town is 30 km from the city.

Is there a museum inside?

Yes. The historical museum holds ancient weapons, furniture and paintings, books and manuscripts, frescoes and decorations from six centuries of rule by popes and kings, and was opened in 1952 by Prince Livio Odescalchi IV.