Lonato Castle (Italy)

The Tower of St. Martin (or Lonato Castle) is a fortified building that overlooks the town of Lonato, in the province of Brescia.

Built in the tenth century was always considered strategic by the defense and military point of view.

It was the property of Montichiari accounts, the Scaligeri and the Visconti in 1376 that, with Bernabo, the potenziarono, extending the walls in all the inhabited village.

In 1404 Lonato and other countries (including Castiglione, Castel Goffredo and Solferino) and the fortress passed to the Gonzaga of Mantua and later to the Republic of Venice. Between 1509 and 1515 he came in possession of the Marquis of Mantua and it is from this period the stay in the fortress of Isabella d'Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga.

Under its walls in 1797 he was fought the bloody Battle of Lonato in the French army, under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Austrian army, commanded by Field Marshal Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich.

Around 1920 the building was purchased by Senator Ugo Da Como and is currently owned by the foundation that bears his name.