Cini Castle – Monselice

Description

Majestic Cini Castle in Monselice (Padua), at the foot of colle della Rocca, is an architectural complex that comprises four buildings, built between the 11^th and 16^th centuries.
The oldest part, to the right of the main entrance, is the small castle with adjoining Romanesque house, built between the 11^th and 12^th centuries. To the left is the massive tower commissioned by Ezzelino da Romano in the 13^th century. Palazzo Marcello was built in the centre to link the two in the 15^th century. In the late 16^th century, the castle library was built on the large open space in front of the tower of Ezzelino.
The castle houses a vast armoury which occupies the entire ground floor of the tower of Ezzelino. The weapons collection is spread across three rooms, each with a valuable collection of complete tournament and war armor, helmets and coats of mail, swords, daggers, polearms, crossbows and firearms, dating from the 14^th and 18^thcenturies. Their Italian, Spanish, German and French provenance offers a vision of the use and diffusion of weapons in Europe between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Position on map