Palaces, Villas and Castles

Villa Sommi Picenardi Crotti

The villa-a name that fits it better than that of "castle" usually attributed to it-is located to the south of the built-up area, near the lower Padana state road. It is one of the last examples, in a chronological sense, of a castellated residence; in fact, it was erected in the 19th century on the site of a pre-existing castle, perhaps from the 14th century, of which it incorporated some surviving elements. The design is by architect Voghera, also the author of the not far away Manfredi "castle" in Cicognolo. It cannot be ruled out that the free nineteenth-century romantic reinterpretation of castle forms, so dear to Voghera and so strongly imprinting the architecture of this villa, also stemmed from the skilful use of the only two pre-existing elements of the vanished castle: the entrance tower of the latter, placed in frieze of the still existing moat, and a second tower, located in the center of the present noble court of the complex.

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