Lascaris Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Lascaris castle-museum is a former fortress mentioned as early as 1040, whose surviving remains have 12th-century foundations. The tower, with its 13th-century paired windows, was built by Ottone Lascaris; the Lascaris family, Counts of Ventimiglia, were the first to hold the lordship of Gorbio. The medieval complex extended to a hanging garden, with stables set up in the vaults of the ground floor. The earthquake of 1887 damaged the tower's crenellations. Acquired and restored by the commune of Gorbio between 2001 and 2002, then completed with the count's apartments in 2010, the castle now comprises fourteen rooms converted into an art space. It opens to the public each year for about four months, starting in July, and notably presents rotating exhibitions around the collection of the Indian painter Raza, who had his studio there for 56 years.