Museo di Castelgrande

Ticino


This museum has a modest collection of finds from Castelgrande's hill dating to prehistoric times. More engaging are the 15th-century ceiling decorations of a former noble house in central Bellinzona. The pictures range from weird animals to a humorous 'world upside down’ series that includes an ox driving a human-pulled plough and a sex-crazed woman chasing a chaste man!


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Ticino attractions

1. Castelgrande

Rising dramatically above the Old Town, this medieval stronghold is Bellinzona’s most visible icon. Head up Salita San Michele from Piazza Collegiata, or…

2. Piazza Collegiata

0.1 MILES

This cobblestone square is framed by graceful 18th-century patrician houses, many with decorative wrought-iron balconies.

4. Palazzo del Comune

0.15 MILES

Bellinzona’s restored Renaissance town hall is worth a peek for its beautiful three-storey inner courtyard of loggias and frescoes showing historic scenes…

5. Chiesa di San Rocco

0.22 MILES

This ochre-hued church is noteworthy for its huge fresco of St Christopher and a smaller one of the Virgin Mary and Christ.

6. Castello di Montebello

0.22 MILES

On cloudless days, you can see Lake Maggiore from this 13th-century hilltop fortification. The fortress is one of Bellinzona’s most impressive with its…

7. Castello di Sasso Corbaro

0.5 MILES

From central Bellinzona, it’s a 3.5km hike south to the Castello di Sasso Corbaro. Perched high on a wooded hillside, the castle has an austere beauty…

8. Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie

0.53 MILES

This 15th-century church has an extraordinary fresco cycle (recently restored after being damaged by fire in 1996) of the life and death of Christ. The…

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