A UNESCO Word Heritage Site
A half-hour train ride outside Locarno sits the town of Bellinzona and the Castles of Bellinzona. The site is composed of fortified walls and three castles named Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro. Tested Travel visited the largest of these, Castelgrande, which is located on a rocky peak overlooking the valley.
Castelgrande
The site of Castelgrande has been fortified since at least the late 1st century BC and until the 13th century it was the only fortification in Bellinzona.
An elevator takes visitors from the foot of the rock to the castle grounds. You can also climbing steep, narrow streets from the city center through the city wall onto the castle grounds. The site has a history museum with neolithic and more modern artifacts. The museum also includes the decorated ceilings of Casa Ghiringhelli and from a former inn, the Albergo della Cervia as well as a collection from Bellinzona's mint. You can run along and under the vast walls. Quite an amazing structure.
There is also a restaurat on site.
Read more about Castelgrande and Bellinzona here.
