Mesocco Castle

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Mesocco Castle
Castello di Mesocco and Sta. Maria del Castello

Castello di Mesocco and
Sta. Maria del Castello

Castle type : Höhenburg, rocky location
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Mesocco
Geographical location 46 ° 22 '48 "  N , 9 ° 13' 57"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 22 '48 "  N , 9 ° 13' 57"  E ; CH1903:  737,999  /  138091
Height: 752  m above sea level M.
Castello di Mesocco (Canton of Graubünden)
Mesocco Castle

The ruins of the Castello di Mesocco are at 752  m above sea level. M. on a mighty rock south of the village Mesocco in Misox in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland . Mesocco is one of the largest castles in Switzerland and was the lordly center of the valley from the beginning of the 13th century to 1526. At the foot of the castle hill stands the Romanesque church of Santa Maria del Castello , which was also mentioned for the first time in 1219 .

investment

The complex consists of four main parts: the outer bailey in the northeast, the main castle on the rock plateau, the main castle “Rocca” within the main castle and the church of S. Carpoforo.

  • plan

  • Aerial view

Outer bailey

Remains of an irregular, 1.5 meter thick ring have been preserved from the outer bailey . There are no references to buildings or an external gate. The church Sta. Maria del Castello. The ascent took place through the forecourt via the eastern flank of the hill to the main castle, which was reached via a drawbridge .

Main castle

The main castle extends over the entire area of ​​the rock head. A strong circular wall runs along the edge of the terrain . It was laid out in the 13th century, enclosed the entire area and was reinforced with battlements and five towers. The strongest tower, the Torre grossa , stood on the east side and had a wall thickness of 5 meters. The tower on the northwest corner with its polygonal floor plan was partly rebuilt. The remains of a lounge can be found on the upper floor. All towers have loopholes .

In the Middle Ages, there were various buildings on what is now the large area inside, which significantly reduced this area. Along the east wall were the stables, a cheese factory, a foundry, an oven and the cistern.

Inner castle "Rocca"

The main castle is based on the western wall and essentially consists of the keep , a paved inner courtyard with a cistern , the west wing and the north wing. It is not clear when the core castle was built; a time in the 11th or 12th century is assumed. Comprehensive renovations from the 15th century and the improper procedure carried out by Eugen Probst on the occasion of the uncovering and securing work of 1925/26 have largely blurred the historical context of the older construction periods; essential questions about the history of the settlement can no longer be answered.

The once five-story tower in the eastern corner of the Rocca was built between 1150 and 1200. It has been preserved up to a height of eight meters and formed the mightiest structure of the medieval castle complex. The high entrance was on the west side and was reached via a stone staircase added at a later date; the original access was via a wooden structure.

From the mighty building from around 1400 on the north side of the main castle, the three-storey palazzo with a stone gallery in front like the Norantola castle , considerable remains of walls have been preserved. Window openings with seating niches and a fireplace can be seen in the walls. On the outside of the ring there was a toilet shaft with two seating niches on different floors. The remains of the paintings date from the early 15th century.

  • View of the south wall of the palazzo

  • Corner courtyard

  • Remnants of paintings

  • Interior of the plant

  • rebuilt west tower

  • Entrance area

church

Inside the church of San Carpoforo with its horseshoe-shaped apse there are remains of the foundations of a previous building with a round apse from the 6th or 7th century. This early medieval church was replaced in the 11th century by a new Romanesque building with a free-standing campanile . The transverse wall was added later. The painting is said to have been largely intact in the 17th century. Next to the church is the seven-story campanile with its coupled arched windows. A burial place is not proven.

  • San Carpoforo Church

  • View into the apse

history

around 1926

Archaeological finds prove the settlement of the complex since the Neolithic . The oldest complex was probably an early medieval church fort from the 6th or 7th century. Apart from the remains of foundations in the church, no traces of residential buildings have survived from that time.

The Castello was first mentioned in 1219 in a letter of foundation. Presumably the Barons von Sax built a medieval castle in the former church fort, which was to remain their residence for around four centuries and from which they established their rule over the Misox .

In connection with the Milan campaigns , the Confederates , the Duchy of Milan and the Gray League tried to get Castello and rule Misox. In 1479 the Castello was occupied by the Gray League, in 1480 Mesocco and Soazza were admitted to the League. Out of consideration for the Confederates, Milan resigned as an interested party and put forward the Milanese condottiere Gian Giacomo Trivulzio , who on November 20, 1480 bought Count Johann Peter von Sax the castle and the rulership rights in the Misox and Calanca Valley for 16,000 Rhenish guilders .

Trivulzio expanded the castle into a late medieval fortress, reinforced walls and towers and equipped them with rifles and artillery. It was now regarded as "only ingestible through betrayal or starvation". In 1496 Trivulzio joined the Gray League and undertook to deliver weapons and provisions from the castle if necessary, which also happened during the Swabian War , the Battle of Calven and the 1st Müsserkrieg .

For fear of the fortress being taken over by foreign powers, the Drei Bünde had the castle razed or made unusable in 1526 against fierce resistance from the Trivulzio; the masonry was largely preserved. A large part of the weapons and artillery were brought to Mesocco, where they were bought by the Bündner in 1541.

The facility then began to disintegrate. In 1835 the main tower was destroyed by a lightning strike. In 1925–26 the castle was exposed and stabilized by “Pro Campagna” under the direction of the architect Eugen Probst. During restoration work between 1986 and 1993, the polygonal west tower and the walls in the north and north-west were restored.

literature

Web links

Commons : Castello di Mesocco  - album with pictures, videos and audio files