CASTELVECCHIO, VERONA

Verona isn’t the town in northern Italy where I was born (it was Brescia), but I consider it like my mother town, because after moving around in various towns in the regions of Lombardia and Emilia Romagna I landed with my family in the Veneto region, in the town of Verona, that’s where my parents and sister are still living.
Castelvecchio ("old castle"), a fortress built by Cangrande II ("big dog") of the Della Scala family in 1354–1356. While the castle itself has very little ornamental decoration it is an important structure and also offers the opportunity to tour some beautiful art as today it is home to the Castelvecchio Museum. The museum can be accessed through the left door located on Via Cavour

The castle is powerful and compact in its size with very little decoration - one square compound built in red bricks, one of the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture of the age, with imposing M-shaped merlons running along the castle and bridge walls. It has seven towers, a superelevated keep (maschio) with four main buildings inside. The castle is surrounded by a ditch, now dry, which was once filled with waters from the nearby Adige river.

The castle stands on the probable location of a Roman fortress outside the Roman city. Lord Cangrande II della Scala had it built along with its bridge across the Adige river as a deterrent to his powerful neighbors such as Venice, the Gonzaga of Florence and the Sforza of Milan families. Construction was carried out between 1354 and 1376 (Cangrande died in 1359). The fortified bridge was intended to allow the seigniors to escape safely northwards to the Tyrol in the event of a rebellion or a coup d'état (the Scaligeri were allies of the Holy Roman Empire) and when they eventually lost their hold on Verona, its surviving members left Italy to establish a German branch of the family.
From 1404 Verona became part of the Venetian Republic and Castelvecchio became a munitions depot and subsequently was the home of the Venetian Military Academy. Later, during the Venetian domination, slits were added to defend it with cannons. The castle was damaged by French troops during the Napoleonic Wars (1796-7), in retaliation to the “Pasque Veronesi”, when the local population staged a violent anti-French revolt. Napoleon had chosen to stay in Castelvecchio on his trips to Verona, but his widespread and arbitrary requisitions of citizens' and churches' property, the massive draft of male workers into the French army prompted the resistance that eventually drove out the invaders.

Under the Austrians, Castelvecchio was turned into barracks. In 1923 the castle was restored, as well as in 1963-1965. In 1958, the museum underwent a total reorganization in effort to restore the value of both the historical and the artistic additions. The restoration favored authenticity, thus eliminating the false contexts created in the 1920s renovation. The architect was the renowned Carlo Scarpa, he sought to tell the story of Castelvecchio for what it was – pastiche mixed with history. He preformed select demolitions and peeled back roofs to reveal layers of history in dialogue. He used modern materials in expressive ways to mediate between parts, drawing attention to historical fact and alerting visitors to the fakery of the '20s renovation. By pulling doors and windows back from the recreated Gothic facade, he exposes the decoration like a theater stage set. He heightens this awareness by moving the entry from the formal center to the end. Even the museum art objects are decontextualized - placed on floating planes to signify their departure from other destroyed buildings. Scarpa made his own commentaries on fascism by removing building portions to reveal the 12th century wall of the city (a time when the inhabitants of Verona had greater freedoms).
Some of my favorite memories of this castle is its bridge over the river, I remember kissing girls for the first time while talking about the history of what we were walking on. I remember actually making up stories of sword fights among soldiers centuries earlier.

http://modernpreservation.blogspot.com/2009/08/authenticity-scarpas-castelvecchio.html