The castles of Cannero Riviera, known as “Castles of the Malpaga”, emerge from the water not far from the shore, at just about 2 km from the center of town. They stand on two islets which were fortified during the Middle Ages and were used by bandits to commit crimes and wrongdoings and control the tradings with neighbouring Switzerland. Because of the purity of the surrounding water the area has been awarded the Blue Flag.
HISTORY OF THE CASTLES OF CANNERO
The story is centered around the “brothers of the Malpaga”, that is the five brothers of the Mazzarditi family who between 1403 and 1404 seized the town of Cannobio extorting money from the coastal population with their brigandish exploits. They forced the local population to build a fortress, later called “Castle of the Malpaga”, to have a safe and fortified place from which to start out on plundering expeditions. To put an end to raids and violence in 1414 Duke Filippo Maria Visconti put the fortress under siege forcing the bandits to surrender for hunger. The castle was then razed to the ground. Between 1519 and 1521 the Borromeo family, lords of the lake, built in its place the “Vitaliana”, a stronghold named after Vitaliano Borromeo, aimed at protecting Lake Maggiore from the incursions by the Swiss. In the XVIII century the castles were abandoned and gradually went to ruins. The modern statue of the Virgin Mary on the smallest islet is by Giannino Castiglioni (1884 – 1971).
