Castello del Buonconsiglio

On a rocky hill in the heart of the town of Trento towers the mighty Buonconsiglio Castle, the most important secular example of architecture in Trentino. The majestic castle dates back to the years 1239-1255 and served as the see of the prince bishops of Trento until the secularisation of the principality in 1802. The castle owes its present structure to the efforts of these prince-bishops and, of course, some of the best architects of the time.

The castle includes several buildings of different eras and is surrounded by a mighty wall of the 16th century. Behind the wall with its cylindrical bastions there is a beautiful Italian park. Above it the massive Torre d'Augusto is towering, which together with the medieval Castelvecchio and its Gothic-venetian loggia make up the historic centre of the castle. Close to it the prince bishop Bernhard Cles built the Magno Palazzo, which dates back to the Renaissance era.

In 1973 the castle became the seat of the regional museum of art, also referred to as Castello del Buonconsiglio Museum. Numerous art collections, ranging from paintings and manuscripts to tiled stoves as well as archaeologic and numismatic collections are exhibited here. Among the valuable baroque and Gothic frescoes is the so-called “Ciclo dei Mesi”, which belongs to the world's most precious frescoes.