The Bracciano castle was built by the Orsini family in the XV century around a medieval fortress.
It has three parts of the outer walls of pentagonal shape and five towers, one for each vertex of the outer fortification.
In 1696, it became the property of the Odescalchi, an ancient family of Como, connected to Pope Innocent XI.
Since 1952 the castle has been open to the public, it can be visited and is often used for receptions, weddings and other social and cultural events.
The halls of the castle have preserved a rich collection of art objects collected by Prince Baldassarre Odescalchi in the second half of the nineteenth century, when he engaged in a major campaign of purchases to re-decorate the castle sacked by the French.
The idea of the prince was from the beginning to create a foundation and a museum.
Today the museum holds the busts of the Twelve Caesars, a rare hourglass of XVI century and many pieces of furniture of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The museum also has a valuable collection of XVI century Italian ceramics, showing a panorama of the main centres of majolica production.
There is a wide selection of early Renaissance paintings, mostly of central Italy.
There is also a rich collection of weapons, made up of very important pieces, that puts the Orsini-Odescalchi castle in the category of most prestigious institutions.
Follow us