The Castello Borgia (also Borgia Castle or Rocca di Nepi) is a 16th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Nepi Nepi (anciently ''Nepet'' or ''Nepete'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, central Italy. The town lies southeast of the city of Viterbo and about southwest from Civita Castellana. The town is known for its mineral s ...

, in

province of Viterbo Viterbo ( it, provincia di Viterbo) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. Geography Viterbo is the most northerly of the provinces of Lazio. It is bordered to the south by the Metropolitan City of Rome C ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

originally refurbished for

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...

. The castle features a large square piazza surrounded by walls on all sides and circular towers at each corner.

History

The castle was originally constructed in the 12th century. During the 15th century it was expanded by cardinal

Rodrigo Borgia Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

(later Pope Alexander VI) and gifted to his daughter, Lucrezia. Borgia was Governor of Nepi at the time. The castle was further renovated by the Farnese during the 16th century. It was damaged by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in 1798 and left in a state of disrepair. In 1819, the castle was the subject of a sketch by the travelling

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...

. The sketch is now part of the permanent collection held by the

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

.''Joseph Mallord William Turner: The Rocca dei Borgia, Nepi 1819''
(

; Turner Bequest CLXXVII)

References

Castles in Lazio Farnese residences Duchy of Castro {{Italy-castle-stub

History

See also

References