Castles and Chapels -- Bellinzona, Switzerland

Castelgrande

January 15, 2012 -- 11:55PM

Today we took a 45 minute train trip north to Bellinzona, Switzerland, a town found in the connection of two valleys created by the Alps. This town is defined by 3 large castles and it's main chapel. Back in the 1500s when glacier erosion finally cleared the area, the Castelgrande was constructed to block the trading routes for taxing. The Montebello and Sasso Corbaro were also built to extend the barracks so the traders couldn't get through the valley without running into the walls of the castles which all connected. The Ticino River ran mostly through this area making it easy to control the traders coming through. But that's enough history blabber. Here are some pictures...

Castelgrande from the remains of the wall

Castelgrande - One of the towers we were able to get to the top of

Montebello

Draw bridge at Montebello

Unknown Architects' villa addition in Bellinzona

There are more pictures from the trip on my Facebook. Tomorrow we are up early again to take a day trip to Milano, Italy. It's men's fashion week there so we should see a lot of activity. Until then...

Ciao!