Malaspina Castle – 500 m slm

The Castle, which was a fief of one of the Malaspina del Ramo Fiorito’s branches from the 14th to the 18th century, is of considerable historical and especially architectural importance. The construction of the majestic fortress began in the second half of the 12th century. It blends incredibly with the sandstone rock and this makes it seems carved in the stone. The Fortress was raised to control and protect the primitive Castro of Fosdinovo and in 1340 it was officially ceded by the nobles of Fosdinovo to Spinetta Malaspina. Thus, while he was residing in the Castle, he created the marquisate of Fosdinovo. Later his nephew Galeotto decided to enlarged and embellish the Castle. In the 1500s, thanks to the work of Gabriele and then of Lorenzo Malaspina, the Castle acquired the appearance and size of a Renaissance Court, while in the 1600s, with Jacopo Malaspina, it was expanded even more until it counted, in 1636, as many as eight hundred “Fires”.