Easy route recommended for schools, to be done on foot in half a day.
The Torrione and the Torre delle Carceri: the earliest sources date back to 976, but it seems that the walls of the Castle of Lonigo were already built by the Romans (150-100 BC), who established several colonies in the Vicenza area to oversee the mountains and respond to invasions by the Alemanni. The castle, under the Counts of Vicenza, was located on a hill along the Novo River. With the rule of the Scaliger and Venetian domains, the sieges and destructions ceased, but by the sixteenth century the Castle of Lonigo was almost in ruins as the City of Vicenza had suspended its maintenance. Today, only the Torrione, about 33 meters high, and the Scaliger Tower, which became a prison (Torre delle Carceri), remain.
The old square of the Castle: from the "strong and well-fortified Castle, also called Castellazzo for its immense size," only a few towers remain that testify to the vastness of such a building. It stood in the slightly elevated place where today the Cathedral, the Cassia Palace, and the Mugna Palace, the seat of the municipal administration, are located. The construction of a proper castle with stone walls and towers must have taken place in the early 10th century when the Hungarians invaded the fertile plain several times. That hill, bordered to the north and west by the Guà River, was suitable for the settlement of a community, and it is plausible that a vicus or a Roman colony was built there; however, we must go back to 976-977 to find a written document confirming the existence of the Castle of Lonigo.
Segment of walls recovered along the Guà River: to better see the remains of the Castle walls, the only ones left, we must cross the San Giovanni Bridge, rebuilt in 1925 when the course of the river was also corrected. Right on the walkway of its embankment, after walking a few meters and turning east, it is possible to see a section of the ancient walls and what remains of a tower located in the corner.
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