Sirmione

#134 Castello di Rocca Scaligera
Sirmione sul Garda, Italy
1290 - 1310
This is NOT an official Lego site

The impressive castle of Sirmione, Italy is indirectly due to the century and a half of chronic unrest between the Ghibellines and the Guelphs. The conflict was born at the Battle of Weinsberg in 1140, when the Welf [Guelph] Dukes of Bavaria, who favored the Papacy, fought the Hohenstaufens of Swabia [now Baden-Wurttemberg, also in Germany] who favored the Holy Roman Emperor. In Italy the European conflict revolved around fear of impending encroachment by the Papal States (by the Ghibellines) and fear of infringement by the Holy Roman Empire (by the Guelphs). The della Scala family of Verona had been the chief Ghibelline family of Northern Italy since the mid-13th century when Ezzelino III da Romano died. As part of the family moved to Sirmione, just 20 miles west of Verona, in the late 1200's, the wealthy mercantile Guelphs were waxing over the more agricultural Ghibellines and the first order of business of this incredibly wealthy family was to protect itself.

The della Scalas [Scaligeri] chose a narrow spot in the middle of the lengthy peninsula jutting into the south end of Lake Garda, Italy's largest inland lake [about 37 miles long], and built a castle that was so impressive that no rival ever dared lay seige against it! The Rocca was completely surrounded by either Lake Garda or moat fed by the lake and is unique in incorporating the largest fortified castle harbor in the world, used by the della Scalas to control and toll traffic on the huge lake.

The castle was important in protection of city of Verona and the the della Scala family in particular throughout the 14th century, though it was never the seat of court. The Scaligeri abandoned the castle in 1405, and it became the possession of the Republic of Venice until 1797, when the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded northern Italy, and Sirmione eventually became part of the Habsburg Empire. The castle was garrisoned until the 16th century, when the advent of cannon and the construction of the cannon fort at Peschiera at the south end of Lake Garda rendered the Rocca obsolete. The town and its castle became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and the castle became the property of the Italian government at the beginning of the 20th century, when many renovations were begun. A visit to the castle is well worth the effort - the view from the donjon is outstanding!


The bridge approaching the main gatehouse	The entrance passage- way - seen from the inner courtyard	The donjon	And very high curtain wall.	The harbour from the castle - ready to receive all friendly merchant vessels!

Photos of the Lego Model under construction February 2012

The castle was laid out on Feb. 1, squared up a bit in accordance with the 3 year old design.	The main castle will be 8 bricks above the waterline of Lake Garda.	Second day work concen- trated on the external (west) gatehouse.	On day three much work concerned the design of the harbour battle- ments [which are erroneous].


The next three days were involved with the building up of both the outer and inner castle.	The emphasis was to build as much as possible in areas where I was most comfortable.	There are areas that need clarification - which will be coming soon...	The harbour is currently the repository for many plans and photographs.


By February 10 slopes have arrived to complete the harbour bulwark, with some work on the north curtain.	A lot of the progress on the iouter and inner gatehouses needed to be redone...	Photographs litter the project as accuracy is acheived.	The southeast yard is notably larger in my model as compared to the actual castle, due to squaring up of the model.


The initial design of the southwest bailey proved wrong, when pictures came from Dan [see below].	The outer gatehouse got a staircase to the drawbridge mechanism loft.	And the southwest got a new sets of stairs as well!	Construction has also begun on the wooden steps inside the SW tower.


There's also been progress on the west gatehouse the new photos showing its connection with the inner courtyard.	Both of the harbour towers are done on Feb. 13, except the arrow slits in some merlons.	There's also progress on the north face of the inner ward.	On March 10, I took a set of construction photos which I expect will be to last ones until I post pictures of the completed model in a few weeks.


Here's the only entrance into the town of Sirmione. The old drawbridge is now fixed.	The second guarded entrance is currently protected by Athos, Porthos and Aramis!	The view of the main castle from the town side features two towers with the residential range in between.	The wonderful harbor is filled with 'water' - i.e. the blue 32 x 32 baseplates have arrived.


The castle from the southeast.	The twin outer and main gatehouses - well underway.	The southwest courtyard will perhaps eventually be filled with food service for the entire castle staff.	The last time anyone will be able to see the corbelling supports for residential range roof.


The long staircase up to the second floor and the battlements.	The southeast outer courtyard will be filled with merchants goods.	The harbor is well protected by three tiers of battlements.	The harbor is ingenious, though it's now somewhat silted in after 750 years.

Photos of the Lego Model Built February 1 to May 15, 2012 for BrickWorld 2012

Here is the view of the castle and harbor from the south. The harbor is guarded by levels of battlements!	From the SSW you get a better feel for the power of the castle.	The view from the south- west highlights to gatehouse with drawbridge that is the only land entrance to the city.	The west view features the town's entrance to its protector.


The northwest view high- lights the residential range...	...which is three stories high.	From the northeast one can further appreciate the walls and towers protecting the harbor.	The harbor itself has docking space for boats on three sides.


The main gatehouse had both pedestrian and carriage entrances.	There is a daily bazaar in the southeast outer court.	Meanwhile in the southwest courtyard preparations are underway for the midday meal, with four wines.	On the entrance promenade into the town of Garda (now Sirmione) just about anything will be happening!


The donjon is both refuge and watchtower.	There is a tower at either end of the residential range.	The third tower is the alternate stair to the battle- ments.	The top of the donjon also shows a bit of the busy harbor.

Build Your Own Usually I'm happy to put all available plans on the webpage, but not in the case of Rocca Scaligera. While I'm basically following my several year old Lego Plan, I'm building the castle with several 360º panaramas, and almost 150 pictures sent to me by my friend Dan Vallauri from his visit to the castle - resulting to numerous changes/corrections. It makes the plans and elevations in many ways less useful than normal, so here's just one view:

Lego South Elevation


Floor Plan	Another Floor Plan	Prerestoration Postcard