The Castle of Maccastorna was a fortress known as Belpavone, built to defend the nearby pass over the River Adda, on the natural border between the territories of Lodi and Cremona, a strategic position for whoever aimed at ruling the region.
The castle rises in the part of the Po Valley that would have been edged by Lake Gerundo (now drained), close to the right bank of the Adda where the river curves in one of the last bays before it flows into the Po.
The name of Maccastorna replaced Belpavone with the arrival of a Ghibelline family from Cremona, known as the de Mancastormis, who dominated the area.
The earliest base for the building is ancient and the first references to it appear in the late 13th century. It was bought in 1371 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, who gifted it to Guglielmo Bevilacqua in 1385 along with the fiefdom. In the 15th century, the castle and fiefdom of Maccastorna passed to Cabrino Fondulo, a soldier in the service of the Cavalcabò family, Lords of Cremona. He moved into the castle building the perimeter walls, the moat and drawbridge and the prisons.
Legend has it that the castle has 70 ghosts. Carlo Cavalcabò had decided to break a long journey and stop here on 24 July 1406 with his brothers. During the night, they were all massacred by Cabrino Fondulo who aspired to becoming Lord of Cremona.
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