What to See at Sforza Castle
You cannot see everything in the castle in one visit, and you do not need to. These are the seven things worth your time, numbered in the order you meet them on a sensible route, with the free courtyards first and Michelangelo last. Each one says where it is and how long it takes. A sforzesco castle tour will walk you round the same route with the story attached.
Before you go in: the free courtyards
Take twenty minutes outside first. Walk in under the Filarete Tower into the Cortile delle Armi and look left for the Roman sarcophagi and the two Renaissance house fronts rescued from central Milan. Carry on to the Corte Ducale, where the Portico of the Elephant still shows its faded fresco, and look through to the Rocchetta's porticoes. None of this needs a ticket, and it tells you how the fortress fits together.
1. The Arca di Bernabò Visconti
Where: the first rooms of the Museo d'Arte Antica. Allow: ten minutes.
Bernabò Visconti, lord of Milan, rides his horse above his own tomb, flanked by Justice and Fortitude. Bonino da Campione's workshop carved the equestrian group from a single block of Candoglia marble, commissioned by 1363 and finished after Bernabò died in 1385. Look closely and you will find traces of the gold that once covered almost all of it.
2. The Sala delle Asse, and why it is closed
Where: room VIII of the Museo d'Arte Antica, in the Torre Falconiera. Status: closed for restoration.
In 1498 Leonardo painted this room for Ludovico il Moro as a pergola of interlaced trees, their branches and cords closing overhead so that only patches of sky show. It was rediscovered under whitewash in 1893 and has been in restoration, on and off, since 2006. It opened briefly for guided scaffold visits in early 2026 and is shut again now. Plan your visit without it, and expect a guide to point out where it is.
3. The Ducal Chapel of 1473
Where: room XII of the Museo d'Arte Antica. Allow: ten minutes.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza wanted a chapel fit for the 22 singers he had recruited from courts all over Europe, and he wanted it fast: it was built and painted in one year, 1473. Gilded suns cover the walls behind a procession of saints. On the vault, the risen Christ rises in a golden mandorla while the guards at the tomb, instead of sleeping, seem to be thrown into the air.
4. The Sala delle Colombine and the Ponticella
Where: rooms XIII and IX–X. Allow: ten minutes.
The Sala delle Colombine is painted like a fabric, with a dove in a sunburst on red and the motto à bon droit — suggested by Petrarch to Gian Galeazzo Visconti and repeated here by Galeazzo Maria. A few rooms on, the Ponticella bridges the moat. In one of its small rooms, the Salette Nere, Ludovico il Moro shut himself away in mourning after his wife Beatrice d'Este died in 1497.
5. Mantegna in the Pinacoteca
Where: room XXIII, first floor of the Corte Ducale. Allow: fifteen minutes.
Andrea Mantegna's Madonna in Glory with Saints was painted for the high altar of Santa Maria in Organo in Verona. An angel holds a scroll with his signature and the date, 15 August 1497. The Virgin floats in a mandorla with no throne, and the four saints below are seen from beneath, monumental and still.
6. The Trivulzio tapestries
Where: the Sala della Balla, Decorative Arts museum, in the Rocchetta. Allow: fifteen minutes.
The Trivulzio tapestries are twelve, one for each month, designed by Bramantino and woven in Vigevano, finished in 1509. Each shows the work of its month, with the sun and the zodiac sign above. The year starts in March. Find September for the patron, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, and his wife; find August for a portrait of the architect Bramante.
7. The Pietà Rondanini, last
Where: the Ospedale Spagnolo, on the Cortile delle Armi. Allow: twenty to thirty minutes.
End with the sculpture Michelangelo carved for himself and never finished. The Virgin stands and holds the dead Christ upright, and the two bodies seem to merge. Walk all the way round: from behind you can see where the sculptor was still cutting away an earlier version. The museums page tells its story, from Rome in 1564 to Milan in 1952.
A two-hour route
| Stop | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|
| The three courtyards | From the Filarete Tower to the Rocchetta | 20 min |
| Arca di Bernabò Visconti | Museo d'Arte Antica | 10 min |
| Ducal Chapel and Sala delle Colombine | Museo d'Arte Antica | 20 min |
| Mantegna | Pinacoteca, room XXIII | 15 min |
| Trivulzio tapestries | Rocchetta, Sala della Balla | 15 min |
| Pietà Rondanini | Ospedale Spagnolo | 25 min |
| Walking between buildings | — | 15 min |
Start by 2.30pm at the latest if you want all of it: the last entry to every museum section is 4.30pm.
Let a guide do the route
Guided castle tours start at the Pietà Rondanini and move through the ducal rooms in ninety minutes, with the museum ticket in the fare.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see Leonardo's Sala delle Asse?
Where is the Pietà Rondanini?
How long do I need at the castle?
Which museums are inside Sforza Castle?
Each tower and courtyard has its own section on towers and courtyards, and every fare is compared on Sforza Castle Tours.