Cannero Castle (Italy)

This castle, by the unusual position of being in the water rather than on a classic hill, was built by five brothers Mazzarditi, nicknamed the "brothers of the Malpaga", who around 1404 were a group of bandits feared. As a kind of "pirate lake", after having seized the town of Cannock, they plundered every village and vessel they encountered. This castle, called precisely "Castle of the Malpaga" it was their refuge. Shrouded in fog, impenetrable, disturbing, no one had the courage to approach to recover their stolen property. But ten years later, the duke Filippo Maria Visconti, after too many complaints from local residents, decided to lay siege to the fortress with his army, making the brothers to surrender through hunger and destroying the castle. It was later rebuilt and renovated by Borromeo in 1520, at that time lords of the lake, to be used as a fortress of sighting against the Swiss raids.

The legend of the feet petrified
There is an ancient legend linked to Mazzarditi brothers. It seems that one day not only wanted to rob a villa nearby, but also plotting to kidnap his grandson who lived with his grandfather, to educate the art of piracy as their successor. But one of the robbers had the misfortune to get close to their home in the instant in which the child turned the evening prayer to his dead mother and to his father away. In that exact moment the foot of the kidnapper froze, making the others run away terrified brothers.

The hidden treasure and the ghosts of pirates
Over the years the Mazzarditi brothers were able to accumulate a lot of wealth, that perhaps, before succumbing before the Duke Filippo Maria Visconti who conquered them, they threw in the lake itself. Who knows these waters still retain an ancient treasure! It is said that in the dense foggy days, you scorga around the castle on their ghost ship, which still hovers around their ancient home in search of lost treasure.