The castle of Cisterna, first documented in the 13th century, was subjected to an early defensive fortification in 1538, promoted by the governor, Claude d’Annebault, during the French occupation. It is therefore believed that the image of the design for the reconstructed complex, made by Francesco Orologi in 1555, despite being characterised by the presence of some decidedly “modern” perimeter structures, corresponds to a structure that had already been in place for some thirty years at the time.
The site was handed back over to the control of the Apostolic Chamber after the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, which, living in constant fear of a French attack, sought help from the Duke of Savoia to fortify the castle’s structure at the beginning of the 1580s. The project began in 1581, with its construction entrusted to the governor and Boniforte Asinario, an engineer of significant renown. Having made the required evaluations and enquiries of Domenico Poncello and Ferrante Vitelli, he finally chose to change the framework, which did not substantially change the structure acquired by the building in the ‘30s.
