The Avio Castle, a treasure trove of enchanting stories

'Women, knights, weapons, and love', the Avio Castle is all this

Built in the Middle Ages to thwart all attacks and sieges, with its walled enclosure, the ways into the heart of the castle becoming gradually narrower, and well visible from the valley, the manor appears as a warning, even to those who see it from afar.

Friends and foes

A successful construction, which never underwent a siege. After all, the Castelbarco family, lords of the castle and the entire lower Vallagarina area, from Lizzana near Rovereto to the border with the Verona region, was more adept at forging ties than contrasts. Allies of the Della Scala of Verona, they intermarried with the Gonzaga of Mantua, and were also loyal subjects of the Holy Roman Empire.

The battle-related frescoes also emphasise the family's alliance with the Empire, by bearing the Castelbarco insignia and the imperial eagle. It almost seems as if we are in front of a painted war handbook: the garments, shields, swords, and helmets are clearly drawn, almost as if to make it clear to guests that the castellans knew what they were talking about, when it came to war.

Love is blind

But the frescoes also talk a lot about love... starting with the legend of the mysterious letters inside the lozenges decorating the walls of the Sala delle Guardie.

According to the legend, Mariana asked the knight suitors to find the letters that formed her name, blindfolded. And they failed at it, of course.
The knight Mariana fell in love with managed to form the maiden's name, despite being blind and despite not accepting the tips Mariana wanted to give him. The horseman hit the target. Mariana, who did not want to get married, eventually gave in to true love.

In the heart of the castle

The love between man and woman also occupies the most unreachable part of the castle. Paintings more akin to feminine feelings can be found also after crossing the last threshold to the castle, reaching the inhabited portion. Here, we find walls covered with painted roses, and a depiction of a first kiss.

But, above all, you will be swept away by the paintings in the Camera dell'Amore, one of the rooms where Tommasina Gonzaga, the wife and regent of the castle, may have taken refuge when her husband Guglielmo III di Castelbarco was away.

Protected as they were from the outside world, these frescoes in the Camera dell'Amore were probably not visible to anyone entering the castle. They seem almost like a decoration for an intimate, perhaps love-inspiring abode. They tell the story of the meeting between a lady and a knight, portrayed in several scenes. Here Cupid, blindfolded (always blind) and a little grizzled, fires his arrow riding backwards. She shields herself, and dodges the arrow, cuddling her little dog in her arms. He is hit in her place, and seems harrowed. And then a kiss between the two, while he is on horseback. Nice to think that this is the end of the story, a reunion, rather than a parting of this couple, centuries away from us.

Perhaps the frescos depict - or foreshadow - Tommasina and her husband, who often had to separate for business reasons. Perhaps they were a good omen for his return, and for her remaining to rule the fortunes of the castle. Or perhaps they represent Tristan and Isolde. Their story was known to the castellans, as a manuscript with the story of Tristan and Isolde had been given to them as a wedding gift.

What is certain is that here too - as in the Sala delle Guardie - we are faced with a stylised compendium of the customs and traditions of the mid-14th century. From the colours chosen to the wall decorations, to the style of clothing, to the story being told, a courtly love with a chivalrous flavour.

And here too, as in Mariana's story, Love strikes at random and conquers, in spite of all attempts to retreat. Love makes us suffer, but it is also consolatory. In the Middle Ages as today.