Rocca di Angera

The wonderful colours of 14th-century frescos

The spectacular Rocca di Angera is the perfectly harmonious accumulation of five different constructions, built starting from the 11th century and until the 17th: the Torre Castellana, the Ala Scaligera, the Ala Viscontea, the Torre di Giovanni Visconti and the Ala dei Borromeo.

It is impossible not to be astounded by the dimensions and grandeur of this building and by the solemnity of the Sala del Buon Romano, the Sala delle Mitologia, the Sala delle Ceremonie, the Sala di San Carlo and the Sala dei Fasti Borromeo, where large canvases, portraits and furnishings take you back to ancient times.

The Sala della Giustizia [Justice Room] is worth the visit alone; it was entirely frescoed soon after the Battle of Desio in 1277 by an anonymous master, who takes his conventional name, the “Master of Angera”, from this endeavour. The cycle of paintings is structured into three overlapping registers and the main historical narration of the exploits of Ottone Visconti against Napoleone della Torre is developed in the main one.

In the Sala delle Ceremonie [Ceremonies Room] it is possible to admire a series of fragments of frescos from the first half of the 15th century coming from Palazzo Borromeo in Milan, which were brought to the Rocca di Angera in 1946 after bombing destroyed the palazzo in the city. Created by the school of Michelino da Besozzo, they are one of the most important examples of Lombard Late Gothic painting with non-religious subjects.

Special lighting and sound create a visiting experience suspended in a magical reality

Founded in 1988 by Princess Bona Borromeo Arese, it is distinguished for the quality, variety and rarity of the collection, making it the largest in Europe in the sector.

The Museum is structured along 12 rooms located in the Ala Viscontea and Borromea, alongside two single-themed sections: one devoted to dolls coming from non-European cultures and the other to the automatons of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Over one thousand dolls made between the 18th century and today, clothed and accompanied by precious outfits. On display there are also toys and models of furniture items coming from the collection of Roberta della Seta Sommi Picenardi: masterpieces by skilled craftsmen, who executed these prototypes with the same expertise that they used for the actual furniture items.

The automaton section, inaugurated in 2002, brings together specimens created above all between 1880 and 1920, produced mostly in France and Germany: true animated wonders, the movement of which was accompanied by musical airs, often taken from well known operas.

“Passion for the beautiful and for cultural innovation is a commitment to future generations.”
Vitaliano Borromeo

It is the oldest construction of the Rocca and dates back to the first half of the 13th century, lodged between the walls and the remains of the oldest tower along the northern side of the Castle.
The Ala Scaligera takes its name from the heraldic motifs on the large walls, created at the wishes of its then owner Bernabò Visconti in honour of his consort Regina della Scala. The decorative plan is repeated in the same way in all the rooms.

After a lower band of around 60 cm, faux boiserie painted, there emerge black and white rhombuses alternating between floral motifs with the Biscione [serpent] of the Visconti family and the Scala [ladder], symbol of the family of the same name. The decorative apparatus is concluded in the upper edge, with illusionistic decorated beams that probably matched the ancient wooden ceiling.

Between 2015 and 2017 the entire wing underwent a meticulous conservative restoration. Today it is a space devoted to exhibitions of contemporary art: projects of artistic creativity that take shape inside six rooms, in a stimulating dialogue between past and present.

2018 – 1st edition, “Continuum”, in collaboration with Galleria Massimo Minini, curated by Antonio Grulli.
2019 – 2nd edition, “Quaestio de aqua et terra. (Another) Question of the water and the land”, in collaboration with Galleria Lia Rumma, curated by Andrea Viliani.
2020 – 3rd edition Fantastic Utopias, in collaboration with Galleria Continua, curated by Ilaria Bonacossa.
2023 – 4th edition Oltre il buio, in collaboration with Galleria Franco Noero, curated by Alberto Salvadori.

A garden suspended in an atmosphere of peace

Created in 2008 after a carefully prepared study based on miniated codices and period documents, the garden harkens back to what could have been the original green space of the Rocca.
A timeless place, where beauty means simplicity and spontaneity, and where flowers and medicinal herbs follow the life cycles of nature and the seasons.

The medieval garden is organised into various zones.
A grove of hazels, cypresses and holm oaks runs alongside a small brook, which it accompanies to the pond, where irises bloom with goldfish swimming around them. The area comes alive in the Garden of small herbs, which gathers together medicinal herbs, tinctorial plants and useful grasses and flowers in twelve beds, grouped on the basis of their function. In all it has around 100 species.

The rose garden is the heart of the Giardino dei Principi [Garden of Princes] and its shady pergolas constructed around a fountain. Listening to the sound of the water admiring the lake is an experience of relaxation and disconnection from a frenetic world. Perennial plants and flowers colour the garden throughout the year, also in the part of the Verziere where vegetables and aromatic herbs cultivated in raised beds are surrounded by azeruoli [Crataegus azarolus], quince, apple and pomegranate trees.