Pasquini Castle in Castiglioncello
Built at the end of the 1800s and surrounded by a splendid park
Pasquini Castle dominates the town center of Castiglioncello, in the municipality of Rosignano Marittimo, and dates to 1889, when it was built on the request of Baron Lazzaro Patrone on property purchased from Diego Martelli, who was forced to sell his estate because of his disastrous financial condition.
The castle, built to look like Palazzo Vecchio, replaced Diego Martelli’s old estate, made famous by numerous paintings from the Macchiaioli movement, while the farming lands were transformed into a park, designed according to the Romantic style of the era, to decorate and protect the privacy of the new residence.
At the entrance to the avenue, along the perimeter wall, the custodian’s house was built, with a curvilinear plan (the Comma), whose merlons dotting the top of the structure recall the Gothic style of the main building. Inside the park, near the castle, is the basement chapel, with a circular plan and decorated in the Coppedè style.
In 1938, Baron Patrone was forced to sell all his properties, including the castle: the building had other owners until the second half of the 1940s, when it was bought by the Pasquini family, who lent the castle the name it still carries today and who made significant changes, especially, to the park.
Today, the castle belongs to the Municipality of Rosignano and is the seat of the cultural association Armunia, which promotes theatre, dance and cultural activities throughout the territory.
