The agricultural town of Sant'Angelo Lodigiano stands on a rise between the river Lambro and southern Lambro. The centre of the village was originally built inside the castle which was begun by the Milanese after the destruction of the fort of Cogozzo.
Completed in 1224, it remained the property of the Lords of Milan, first the Della Torre family, then the Viscontis.
Altered by Regina della Scala, wife of Bernabò Visconti, it passed to Michele Bolognini in 1447 whose family owned it until 1933.
At the turn of the last century, a long restoration project returned the castle to its original appearance. For almost 100 years, it was no longer a residence but used as a military garrison, storehouse and silk production centre.
It has a square ground plan with a wide square court; it is a compact Lombard-Gothic structure with solid walls lightened by crenellations and polychrome mullion windows with two lights. Slender towers rise on three sides, one of the first examples of Visconti fortifications to overhang.
The Mastra Tower on the outside of the castle defended the main entrance.
The structure was inherited in 1933 by the Roman Institute of Cereal Cultivation and is now one of the best preserved defensive constructions in Lombardy. It houses the Morando Bolognini Historical and Artistic Museum, the Bread Museum and the Lombard Museum of the History of Agriculture which has a collection of ancient tools used for seeding and other work in the fields.
Milan