Galliate: Castle, Museums and Nature along the Ticino

Galliate combines history, art and landscape within a compact thematic area. The town takes you to the Castello Visconteo Sforzesco, to museums with regional and personal connections, to historic palaces in the surrounding area and into a landscape shaped by the Ticino and nature parks. For planning a trip with a cultural focus, walks and regional themes, Galliate therefore offers several different points of interest.

Castle and museums in Galliate

The Castello Visconteo Sforzesco in Galliate was built in 1476 by Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the site of an earlier Visconti military fortress. The Castello Sforzesco, a castle, is also located in the vicinity of Galliate. Together with the museums in the Castello, it forms a focal point that combines architecture, local history and art, without requiring you to limit yourself to a single theme.

In the southern wing of the Castello, the Sala Museo “Achille Varzi il signore del volante” presents a permanent exhibition about the racing driver who came from Galliate. Some of his personal memorabilia are also on display there. The northeast tower and part of the adjacent rampart walkway are connected to the Museo “Angelo Bozzola”; this connection dates back to 1998. The museum preserves sculptures, paintings and graphic works donated to his home municipality by the artist, who came from Galliate.

Cultural destinations can also be found outside the Castello in the area around Galliate. The Museo Storico Novarese “A. Rossini” is a museum in the vicinity of Galliate. Palazzo Natta and Palazzo Bellini are palaces in the same area.

Villa Fortuna and the history of the town

Villa Fortuna is located south of Galliate, on the edge of the Ticino’s first alluvial terrace, and overlooks the valley of the Parco del Ticino below. In June 1859, on the eve of the Battle of Magenta, Villa Fortuna became the headquarters of Vittorio Emanuele II.

Riseria Capittini was founded in 1881 by Giuseppe Capittini.

Nature along the Ticino and paths through the countryside

Galliate is considered one of the preferred access points to the Parco Naturale Valle del Ticino. This ecological corridor was established in 1978, covers more than 6,500 hectares and was recognised as a biosphere reserve in 2002 under the UNESCO MAB Programme.

The Parco del Ticino is a park in the immediate vicinity of Galliate. The surrounding area also includes the Giardini Consiglio d'europa as a garden, Parco Cicogna as a park and Bioparco Roggia Moretta as a park. A specific destination for walks is the 5-kilometre Sette Fontane nature trail. It starts at Parco delle Sette Fontane and can be reached from Galliate.

Further places for orientation

San Maurizio D'opaglio, Agrate Conturbia, Trecate, Cureggio, Cameriano, Ghemme, Arona and Alzo

For the higher-level travel overview: Novara.