Castel Baradello

Powerful structure risen in dominant position, rebuilt by the Barbarossa towards the half of XII century.
The original building, probably surrounded by walls that connected it to the defensive bastion that gave the name to the below Ca' Merlata, occupied a larger area. In the decennial war it was the reference point of the inhabitants of Como, but their defeat brough to the destruction the city and the relative fortifications, comprised the castle.

The tower, 35 meters high, was theatre of the numerous historical episodes of the rivalry of Como with Milan. Among these, there is the famous battle carried out in 1277 around Desio, between the troops of Ottone Visconti and those of Napo Torriani. The first one, that won the battle, locked up the other in a narrow cage, fixed in the walls of the Baradello, for 19 months, until death. It was strengthened in the 1300's by the Visconti and demolished in 1527 by Spanish rulers.

Nowadays, the volunteers of - Club Baradel - are willing to permit the visit at the Tower, and the castle has become the symbol of the city, while the quarters live again in allegorical shape, the civil war and the battles with the Palio of the Baradello.