The Castle of the Ezzelini, also called the upper castle, is the medieval fortification on the highest hill of Bassano del Grappa. It grew up around the church of Santa Maria, mentioned in a document of 998 as standing «in Margnano, not far from the bank» of the Brenta, with defensive structures that served as a refuge for people, goods and supplies. In the second half of the twelfth century the bishop of Vicenza, who owned it, gave it to Ezzelino I, founder of the Ezzelini family. It later passed to the Scaligeri from 1311, to the Visconti from 1387 and to the Republic of Venice from 10 June 1404.
What to see
The oldest parts, from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, are the bases of towers and walls in Brenta cobbles, limestone and brick, the north circuit wall and the Ortazzo tower. Today the complex consists of two concentric enclosures around the summit, joined to the south by a single wall: the outer one is older, the inner one has many fourteenth-century features, and between them runs a wall walk with views over the town. At the entrance stands the Bolzonella tower, now called Ser Ivano's tower, about thirty metres high and once an independent defence cut off from the rest of the castle; to the north the enclosure is closed by the side of the cathedral, the old parish church of Santa Maria in Colle, rebuilt from 1471.
The squat, square Ortazzo tower takes its name from the courtyard it closes to the south-west, where people drowned in the Brenta and suspected suicides were buried.
Visiting
After restoration in the nineteen-nineties, the Ortazzo tower, Ser Ivano's tower and the guardhouse at the start of the wall walk host temporary exhibitions and performances of the OperaEstate festival. Opening times should be checked with the town council.
Our editors' tip
In 1411 the walls withstood the first bombards of Emperor Sigismund's troops, but in 1508, during the War of the League of Cambrai, they fell to the armies of Maximilian I of Habsburg: from then on the castle lost its military role. Giuseppe Verdi set his first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, here in 1228.
