Castel Belasi
A treasure trove of historic and contemporary art
- The perfectly preserved frescoes
- The contemporary art exhibitions
- The section dedicated to photography
An imposing castle with a distinctive pentagonal tower, surrounded by the apple orchards of lower Val di Non, at the feet of the Brenta Dolomites: Castel Belasi, a fortified complex erected in the late 12th century to assert Tyrolean dominion over the area, embodies the spirit of a land caught between north and south, between Mediterranean and Germanic cultures.
An example of this is the splendid frescoes dating from between the 14th and 15th centuries, which depict a curious bestiary inhabited by bears and monkeys. Their subjects vary: from the Queen of Sheba to the cycle of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and from Bartlme Dill Riemenschneider’s Judgement of Paris to scenes of knights. Meanwhile, the “Room of fruit and music”, created by a painter from the workshop of Marcello Fogolino, is a departure from Nordic tastes in favour of the style of the Italian Renaissance.
Today, Castel Belasi is not just a record of the past, but an exhibition venue with a permanent display of the province’s Historical Photographic Archive and temporary exhibitions of contemporary art with an international flavour.
