SFORZA CASTLE, Interior

You are in front of Filarete Tower, named after the Tuscan architect who designed it. There is a large fountain next to the Tower that is always crowded with tourists, especially in summer. The statue of the city's patron saint, St. Ambrose, sits atop the tower dressed in his bishop garb.

With the Saint's blessing you will soon enter the castle, where you'll immediately find lots of indications and an information office. Sforza Castle is one of the largest castles in Europe, and is now a major arts complex with museums, libraries and other cultural institutions. It has exhibition spaces in various buildings and on four different levels: are you ready to enter an authentic ancient fortress? Well then pause the guide and go to the Square of Weapons!

Inside the castle's walls you'll find that the castle is divided into three courtyards. The largest is the Square of Weapons, so named because the castle's soldiers used to stay here. On one side of the square you can see the remains of Renaissance palaces, while on the other side you'll notice a long, low building where plague patients were once hospitalized. This building has been home to a wonderful sculpture of Michelangelo, the Pietà Rondanini, since 2015. Note the battlements along the walls, and if you look down to the bottom of the inner moat you'll see piles of stone balls which remind you that this was a fortification made to withstand sieges.

Do you see that tower covered with beautiful vines? That's the Tower of Bona of Savoy, named after the dynasty's second Duchess who was widowed towards the end of the 1400s after her husband Galeazzo Maria Sforza was killed in a conspiracy; yes, the Italy of the Renaissance had more plotting and scheming than an episode of "Game of Thrones"......