Castello Brancaleoni

About the museum

The history of Piobbico is linked to the comital family of the Brancaleoni, who dominated the territory for seven centuries. The castle developed in several phases between the 13th and 18th centuries: born as a fortress, it gradually took on the appearance of a Renaissance palace rich in frescoes, stuccoes and fireplaces, with over one hundred rooms. The entrance is through the clock tower, whose dial has its numbers running anticlockwise, and leads to the public square with the oratory of San Carlo Borromeo.

The most sumptuous part is the noble apartment, commissioned by Count Antonio II with artists from the Duchy of Urbino, such as the stuccoist Federico Brandani and the painter Federico Barocci. Here are the Sala del Leon d’Oro, the Camera Romana and the Camera Greca, frescoed in 1585, with small prayer rooms and Brandani’s stucco Nativity scene. The west wing is characterised by the “fuga di stanze” (flight of rooms), eleven halls in succession over a length of 150 metres.

In the castle’s rooms is housed the civic museum: on the ground floor the museum of old trades with 18th-century looms for the artistic carpet of Piobbico, then ceramics and archaeological finds discovered in the castle, a numismatic collection, the ornithological section with the fauna of Monte Nerone and the large geo-palaeontological section with thousands of fossils. In the cellars is the speleological section, with a reconstruction of a cave bear.

Highlights

• Noble apartment with stuccos by Federico Brandani and 16th-century frescoes
• Camera Greca and Camera Romana
• “Fuga di stanze” of the west wing
• Geo-palaeontological section with fossils from Monte Nerone
• Museum of old trades with the looms of the Piobbico carpet
• Speleological section with a reconstruction of a cave bear

Visitors per year

approx. 7,267

Admission & discounts

Admission is also free for tourist guides, on one’s birthday, for women on 8 March and 25 November, for fathers on Father’s Day and mothers on Mother’s Day if accompanied by a child, and for residents of Piobbico. Entitlement to these categories must be proven with a valid document. Tickets are bought at the entrance.

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