Castello Scaligero di Soave Historical Timeline

Origins

The hill was fortified long before the Scaligeri: the site guarded the eastern approach to Verona along the road from Vicenza, and parts of the lower structure predate the fourteenth century by a considerable margin.

Turning points

The decisive rebuilding came in 1369 under Cansignorio della Scala, lord of Verona, who gave the castle its present form and threw the wall circuit around the town below at the same time. The two are a single design.

Influential people

After the fall of the Scaligeri the castle passed to the Visconti and then, in 1405, to Venice. The Republic had no use for a frontier fortress this far inside its own territory, and the castle was left to decay for four centuries.

Cultural evolution

It was a roofless ruin used as farm buildings when Giulio Camuzzoni, a senator and later mayor of Verona, bought it in 1889 and began a restoration in the spirit of the period -- rebuilding roofs, floors and battlements, and furnishing the interior.

Present-day significance

It remains in private hands and open to visitors, and is now inseparable from Soave's identity as a wine town: the castle is on the label of a great many bottles.