Sforza Castle
Leonardo da Vinci painted the ceiling here. Bramante did the walls down the hall.
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Francesco Sforza raised this fortress in 1450 on the bones of a Visconti stronghold with walls up to 7 metres thick. By the 16th century it ranked among Europe's largest citadels. Ludovico Sforza then pulled in Leonardo and Bramante to decorate it. Rebuilt by Luca Beltrami between 1891 and 1905, it now holds several of Milan's museums and art collections under one roof.
What to look for
- The Torre del Filarete — the central tower Francesco Sforza commissioned sculptor-architect Filarete to design in 1452
- The Sala delle Asse, whose ceiling Leonardo painted with botanical decorations around 1498
- The corner towers and 200-metre-long walls that trace the original Visconti square plan
Multiple city museums are housed inside. Check current opening hours and museum admission fees locally before visiting.
Sforza Castle is one of 35 sights worth the detour in Milan, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Milan pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Milan
- San Siro — Giuseppe Meazza StadiumTwo rival clubs, one ground: the 75,817-seat arena where Milan's football fault line runs.
- Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano)Construction started in 1386 and the final details were finished in 1965 — the city couldn't stop adding to it.
- La ScalaThe gallery gods who booed tenor Roberto Alagna off stage mid-Aida in 2006 still haunt the loggione — the cheapest seats in opera's most feared house.
- Santa Maria delle GrazieThe wall Leonardo painted on was sand-bagged against Allied bombs in 1943 — and held.
- Galleria Vittorio Emanuele IIThe direct ancestor of every enclosed shopping mall on earth — and there is still a worn hole in the floor where Milanese spin a heel for luck.
- Pinacoteca di BreraNapoleon's redistribution of Italian art built this collection — Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin was the prize acquisition.