Castelvecchio Historical Timeline

A Scaliger stronghold

Cangrande II della Scala commissioned Castelvecchio in the 1350s during a period of political insecurity. The fortress and its bridge strengthened control of the river and provided a protected route away from the city.

Changing military uses

Later Venetian and Austrian authorities adapted the complex for military purposes. In April 1945 retreating German forces destroyed Ponte Scaligero. It was reconstructed after the war using recovered original material where possible.

Carlo Scarpa's museum

Carlo Scarpa's twentieth-century intervention became an influential example of museum design. Rather than disguising every later alteration, it reveals the building's layers and creates precise relationships between artworks, historic fabric and new construction.

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