Gonzaga Tower, Ceresara

The old Ceresara castle, destroyed by Pinamonte Bonacolsi in the 1270s and rebuilt by the Gonzaga family 100 years later, was a fortification formed of embankments topped with palisades and surrounded by a double moat.

It had several wooden towers and a single masonry construction known as the ‘barbacane’, erected to protect the gate, with a drawbridge (the housing of the lifting mechanism is still visible, although filled in) and two entrances: one for vehicles with a pointed through-arch and a pedestrian one (pusterla) with a round arch.
The barbican was converted to a real tower and elevated at several stages to produce its present appearance.