Desenzano Castle’s 50-Year Saga: Ownership, Management, and Challenges

The recent history of the Desenzano castle could easily fall into the category of soap operas, with many, many episodes airing for over thirty years. Let’s look at some milestones.

The early events and the origins of the ownership

On November 25th, 1968, Deputy Bruno Corti, of the now dissolved Partito Socialdemocratico, responded to Tullio Ferro, a journalist and well-known figure within the Gardesano cultural circles, telling him he was surprised by the condition of the fortress, recently purchased by the Municipality for 37 million lire.

It was Ferro himself, who was working for the Municipality, who proposed to the then Christian Democratic mayor Luigi Laini to acquire the large building from the Demanio Militare (Military Domain). Of course, in order to derive some benefit from it.

The events of the 1970s and the management of the castle

Another ten years passed, bringing us to the late 1970s, before the castle was entirely cleared of tenants: people who had inherited the small house from those displaced during the last war.

The former fortress hosted Feste de l’Unità and those of the «L’Avanti», with significant public attendance. Later, for safety reasons, even the community festivals were evicted.

The lack of solutions and the political consequences

Over nearly 40 years, all the administrations that succeeded each other never managed to find an optimal solution.

But does it really take that long? And why, asked Fezzardi yesterday to those present, does every municipal council project get definitively canceled by the next administration?

In fact, this sort of “battleship” game has only caused the loss of a great opportunity for cultural and perhaps even economic growth for the town.