Torre del Bramante. The origin of the tower, at the highest point of the city near the castle, dates back to 1198 and was finished by Bramante at the end of the 15th century, while in the 17th century the baroque "onion" dome was added to replace the original one. conical spire. The tower has an original shape which, in the 15th century, was the model for the Filarete tower in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan; it is made up of sections that narrow as you approach the top. From the terraces it is possible to admire an excellent view of the Piazza Ducale, the castle and the whole city. 75 m high from the level of the square (57 m from the level of the court), the Torre del Bramante is the current Civic Tower of the city of Vigevano, of which it has always been the symbol. Furthermore, with its 57 m it is the tallest structure in the city of Vigevano. it is created by overlapping three floors sloping upwards. The first terrace is enclosed by the Ghibelline battlements, the upper section houses the clock, while the last contains the 17th-century bell. At the top rises the octagonal belvedere that crowns the tower. The belfry, inaccessible to the public, houses "il campanone", a large 17th-century bell "split" out of necessity. In fact, in the 19th century there were no modern electronic systems to control the bells, and the tower clock, mechanical at the time, struck every half hour even at night. It seems that the sound of the "big bell" was so loud that the inhabitants of the houses leaning against the castle and the piazza were practically unable to fall asleep. So they presented a petition in the municipality in which they asked to "silence" the bronze disturber! In the end a compromise was reached: from the bell, with almost surgical precision, a segment was removed in order to make it split and muffle the sound. And this is how it can still be heard beating every quarter of an hour today. (updated Jun 2021)
Piazza Ducale. h24. The Piazza Ducale of Vigevano is a large Renaissance-style square. Its construction began in 1492 at the behest of Ludovico il Moro as an antechamber of the castle and was completed in 1494. It is a rectangular square that winds under the arcades on three sides and which sees the fourth side occupied by the Cathedral of Vigevano. It should be noted that above each arch of the arcades there are medallions depicting historical figures of the Renaissance period with some mottos that distinguish them. The beating heart of the city, it is connected by a staircase to the Vigevano Castle and the Bramante Tower which overlooks the roofs of the center and which remains, still today, the tallest building in the city. 134 m long and 48 m wide, it is built on three sides (the fourth is occupied by the Cathedral Church of Sant'Ambrogio) with homogeneous buildings with uniform façades and arcades surrounding a forum that follows the Roman model described by Vitruvius. The area had been characterised by a wide road surrounded by buildings mostly arcaded, including that of the municipality. As a result of the fourteenth-century expansion, it developed north of the fortified promontory of the ancient village which disappeared with the Visconti and Sforza transformations that led to the construction of the current "castle". The village and the primitive adjoining castle, located in an elevated position, was accessed by means of a ramp or perhaps a staircase placed in correspondence with the current tower which serves as the entrance to the castle. The new square was built under the direction of the ducal engineer Ambrogio da Corte with the demolition of the houses located towards the escarpment on which the castle stands and the reuse of the buildings to the north and west, aligning them with the reconstruction of the facades. The Sforza construction had the south side interrupted, in correspondence with the tower, by a wide connecting ramp between the square and the castle; the west side extended up to the escarpment of the castle (some arches with the original columns are inserted in the Commercio café) and was divided into two parts joined by a triumphal arch at the entrance to via del Popolo, while on the north side, in correspondence of the connection with the west one, just in front of the ramp, there was a triumphal arch with three arches corresponding to the entrance to via Giorgio Silva. The facades were totally decorated with frescoes very similar to the contemporary paintings of Palazzo Bottigella in Pavia. The current form is the result of the intervention of 1680, carried out by bishop Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, in which the ramp is demolished and a staircase is built, inserted in the completion of the missing section of the south side, part of the west side (towards the castle) is incorporated in the southern body. The layout of the square was definitively modified by Caramuel with the construction of the new facade of the cathedral: a concave facade, leaning against the church like a theatrical backdrop, which embraces and welcomes the enclosure of the square, overturning the Sforza square-castle relationship, transforming it into a square. church. In an unknown period, perhaps in the mid-18th century, the triumphal arches were replaced, completing the rhythm of the arches, with new columns of material and construction different from those of the 15th century. In the first half of the eighteenth century the Austrian occupiers placed a statue of St. John of Nepomuk, which still characterizes the western side of the square today. The pavement with pebbles and serizzo slabs dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, when the pavement of the arcades, originally in herringbone bricks, was also replaced with the current one. In 1911, by the architect Moretti, the design was made with white pebbles and the street lamps were inserted. Between 1905 and 1910 an extensive restoration was carried out which brought to light the fragments of the Sforza frescoes, hidden by the eighteenth-century paintings, by the Vigevanese painters Casimiro Ottone and Luigi Bocca, which integrates the fragments with a new pictorial decoration in Renaissance style; during the works the roofs are redone with the construction of the eclectic fireplaces and the current lampposts are installed. On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of its construction, between 1992 and 1996, the repainting of the decoration of the beginning of the century is carried out and the restoration of what remains of the original Sforza frescoes. The square is a meeting and meeting place, certainly the favourite of the Vigevanese people, and the main point of reference for tourists. It houses various shops and also the stop of the tourist train of the city. Gratis. (updated Jun 2021)
Leonardiana. Leonardiana is the place, unique in the world, where the visitor can admire all the large and heterogeneous work of one of the greatest geniuses of humanity. The Museum offers an unprecedented itinerary through the life and work of Leonardo who stayed in Vigevano as superintendent of the waters on behalf of Ludovico il Moro, but also as a member of the court of Ludovico and Beatrice who always appreciated his exquisite artistic skills, the worldly attitude and the scientific and mathematical genius. The Museum exhibits all the work that Loenardo was able to conceive and create in the course of his life: the drawings, now preserved in dozens of museums and libraries around the world, the notebooks that accompanied his days, full of his thoughts and brilliant intuitions, the codes that after his death were assembled by his friends and heirs and which today are kept in the largest libraries and institutions in the world. The exhibition itinerary is completed by the "impossible art gallery", in which all 26 paintings recognized to his hand are exhibited, reproduced in full scale with special high-resolution techniques, which allow the visitor to immerse himself in the totality of the work, a unique experience that will allow a close and in-depth analysis of his artistic language. Full admission €8.00; reduced entrance €7.00 (over 65, under 26, disabled, holders of Card Musei Lombardia, Police not in service, authorized tourist guides, Card Touring Club Members, FAI Members, Cral Vigevano Ducale, Card Giunti holder; reduced groups €6.50 + €1 presale rights Groups of people min 15-max 25 (reservations required); reduced schools €4.00 + €1 presale fee School groups min 15-max 25 (reservations required - 2 free admissions per class); reduced family 2 adults and 1 child (6-14 years) €20.00 and 2 adults and 2 children (6-14 years) €22.00. (updated Jun 2021)
