CASTELLO BUONCONSIGLIO
The sumptuous residence
of the Prince Bishops

It is the oldest nucleus of the castle. The residence of the prince-bishops of Trento since the mid-13th century, it is the symbolic place of their power, both spiritual and temporal.

Built against the city walls, on a rocky hill overlooking the city, it reveals on its facade its original defensive purpose and the subsequent gradual transformation into an elegant residence.

Three orders of swallow-tailed battlements mark the stages of its construction. The loopholes give way to windows, increasingly elaborate in form: from Romanesque bifores, it transitions to Gothic windows with Guelph crosses and elegant single-arched Gothic trilobate windows from the late 15th century, in the same style as the refined Venetian loggia.

The building, a formal link between Castelvecchio and Magno Palazzo, was constructed in 1686 by order of the Prince-Bishop Francesco Alberti Poja. The architecture adopts Renaissance forms from Magno Palazzo, but the sumptuous embellishments of the interior spaces fully express the Baroque style.

Among the most accomplished Baroque testimonies in Trentino, the bright rooms on the first floor of the Giunta Albertiana showcase lush stuccoes framing the paintings by the court artist from Trentino, Giuseppe Alberti. They are dedicated to one of the most distressing yet glorious events in seventeenth-century European history: the advance of the Ottoman Empire into the heart of Europe, culminating in the Siege of Vienna, triumphantly thwarted by the alliance of European states.

The sumptuous Renaissance residence was erected starting in 1528 next to Castelvecchio, at the behest of the Prince-Bishop Bernardo Cles, an undisputed political and cultural protagonist of the time. The new dwelling, a perfect expression of Renaissance architectural and decorative canons, celebrates his prestige and fulfills his desire to emulate the most important Italian Renaissance courts.

In a skillful synthesis of ornamentation and functionality, the palace takes shape thanks to the work of German and Italian craftsmen, skilled Mantuan stucco workers, painters, and sculptors, including some of the most celebrated artists of the time: Dosso Dossi with his brother Battista, Girolamo Romanino, Marcello Fogolino, Zaccaria Zacchi, Alessio Longhi and Bartholomäus Dill Riemenschneider.

The ancient city gate tower, Torre Aquila, is connected to the castle through the battlement walkway along the city walls. Its three floors are served by a wooden spiral staircase. The middle hall preserves, frescoed on the walls, the famous “Ciclo dei Mesi” (Cycle of the Months), a masterpiece of International Gothic.

Executed by an artist of probable Bohemian origin at the behest of Prince-Bishop Georg von Liechtenstein around the year 1400, the Cycle of the Months is a masterpiece of International Gothic. The frescoes faithfully and poetically depict the feudal world at the close of the Middle Ages. In eleven panels (the month of March is lost), both the work of peasants and the pastimes of the nobility are meticulously described within a landscape that constantly changes with the seasons.