The Castle Narrates

A small Renaissance-style fortress

After crossing a wooden portal, we find ourselves in a simple yet dreamy and romantic lawn-garden. In the 16th century, the garden, bordered by apple trees and a few scattered rose bushes, served as the stage on which the Madruzzo family organised parties and balls for the nobility in summertime.

Carriages or horses used to traverse a tree-lined avenue and cross the garden to enter the castle, where the horses were housed. The parties were held in the large first-floor hall, which was reached going up an elegant stone staircase. 

The entire building is in Renaissance style, including its wall decorations completed in the 19th century, but copied from the wall art adorning the Palazzo Assessorile (Assessors’ Palace) in Cles and realised by Marcello Fogolino in the 16th century. 

The castle resembles a flatland stronghold, with a large square building in the centre, and low walls all around it, at whose corners stand four low turrets, also square. We are actually in front of a fortified country villa, rather than a forbidding castle designed for defense.

Garden of Delights

Castel Nanno inspires garden delights, moments of music and conviviality. And even today, picnics are held on its lawn throughout spring and summer, while cheerful chestnut festivals fill the autumn air.

The castle can be visited independently with the help of an audio guide, or by guided tours, which are offered during events. 

The castle, indeed, has a lot to tell.

The large kitchen fireplace, the impressive staircase, the spiral staircase for the servants, the ballroom and the wooden rooms are definitely worth a visit.

Furniture, paintings, and furnishings, have been gone for a long time. Truth be told, the castle has a calamitous history. For example, during the First and Second World Wars, it served as a refuge for soldiers, and the castle retains the memory of their quarters: a stone portal cut to allow cars to pass, crumbling steps, and lime marks on the walls.

Melisenda and Ludovico

And then, there are the stories of what you don’t see...

Someone reported hearing moans coming from the castle in the nights between the second and third of May. Laments, perhaps, caused by the wind howling through the windows of the rooms, or… laments of the spirits of Melisenda and Ludovico.

Melisenda was the daughter of the castellan, who, just like in the story of Romeo and Juliet, fell in love with the wrong young man, the son of Counts Spaur, who lived in Castel Valer, not far from Castel Nanno. They met at a ball at Castel Belvesino, now Castel Thun, and fell in love at first sight. Unfortunately, it was a forbidden love because, alas, the families were rivals. And so, the lovers, once discovered by Melisenda’s father, were taken to Castel Nanno and condemned to an atrocious death, walled up alive in the dungeons at the castle’s entrance.

It’s no wonder that we still hear their cries today.castel-nanno-history

The laments are heard at the beginning of May, during the days of Calendimaggio, an ancient pagan festival that falls exactly halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice: it is the height of spring, and roses in bloom, encounters of young people and blooming loves are a perfect match for this time of year.

Calendimaggio is also an important time for witches, and, in this sense, Castel Nanno has its own stories to tell. It is here, indeed that a part of the Val di Non witch trial took place, its centrepiece being in the Palazzo Nero in Coredo.

But to learn more about this fascinating topic, we invite you to read: The Coredo witch trials