Built to control and protect the access to the Alps, the castles of Bellinzona are now a Unesco World Heritage site. They are among the finest examples of medieval fortification architecture in the alpine region.
Castelgrande, standing atop its forbidding rocky hill dates back to the late Roman times form the core of the fortifications of Bellinzona. The walls and buildings we see today were mainly built by the dukes of Milan who erected a magnificent fortified barrier extending across the entire valley in the 15th century to stop the Swiss-German troops from crossing into Italy. Its massive walls, towers, castellations and gates impress visitors from near and far.
