[2] Around 1290, Matteo Visconti ordered the construction of the castle, probably on a previous building's ruins.

[3] It had the classic layout of the Visconti castles of the Lombardy plains: quadrangular, with square towers at each corner, two entrances on opposite sides, and an internal courtyard.

The castle's primary purpose was to show a sign of the Visconti's power over Vercelli.

As a military building, it was no longer useful, and, as civil work, it became unsuitable compared to other residences of the Savoy house.

The works rebuilt the original southern gate, with a wooden bridge over the moat, and the pusterla in the south-eastern corner.