Soavé: a visit to the town & castle 10.3.06

Last week we took the short drive to Soave, a fortified town famous for the Soave Bolla wines produced in this area. We had stopped here earlier in the summer but the castle was closed and we promised ourselves we would come back to tour it. You can see this castle on the hill above the town as you drive east from Verona towards Venice with its 14th century crenellated walls spilling down the hillside and enclosing the small historic center.

The original castle dates back to the 10th Century and was added to many times throughout its history and had fallen into disrepair when the Camuzzoni family bought it in the late 1800s and meticulously restored it to its former glory. It is still in the hands of this family who maintain it. A fresco was being worked on as we passed through the rooms in the well-preserved medieval Lord’s house, above what were barracks and a guardhouse, complete with furnishings, armor and portraits of 14th century nobility. Climbing the stairs to the keep, the highest tower, affords spectacular 360-degree views of the town below and the vineyards that undulate up and down the hillsides.

I will let the photos speak for themselves, so here’s a little tour of the town of Soave and its Castle.


At the Rocca Scaligera, in the courtyard of the castle, we found this "guard dog"


The Palazzo Giustizia in the historic town center, built in 1375


The Tower of the Castle, called the Rocca Scaligera


Keys to the medieval house on the castle grounds


The town of Soavé seen from the Castle