S. Giorgio Castle is a castle in the municipality of Magliaso

Magliaso

Magliaso is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.-History:Magliaso is first mentioned in 769 as de Maliacis. In 854 it was mentioned as de vico Maliaci....

 in the Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 canton of Ticino

Ticino

Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...

. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance

Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance

The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...

.

History

The medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 castle of San Giorgio is mentioned for the first time in 1033. It was the home for nearly two decades (1098-1117) for the schismatic bishop of Como

Roman Catholic Diocese of Como

The Catholic diocese of Como, in northern Italy, has existed since the fourth century. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Milan. The bishops' seat is in Como Cathedral....

, Landolfo Carcano, who was appointed by Emperor Henry IV

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...

 against Pope Gregory VII

Pope Gregory VII

Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...

's bishop. The castle was besieged and conquered in 1117 by Como

Como

Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....

 and the fate of Landolfo, is uncertain (possibly deported or murdered). This caused the ten-year war between Como and Milan. In 1667 Giovanni Maria Castoreo di Lugano sold the castle with its surrounding land to the Beroldingen family. Carlo Corrado Beroldingen added, in 1687, to the west, the residential tower next to the medieval tower. It was partially destroyed in 1907.

The square tower on the south wall still has fragments of a Romanesque

Romanesque art

Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...

 spiral decoration. In the north-west wall there are remains of a semi-circular brick wall. The two lines of the Beroldingen family passed from father to son the office of Landscriba (Chancellor) of the bailiwick

Bailiwick

A bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and may also apply to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal or imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of...

 of Lugano

Lugano

Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...

 and Mendrisio

Mendrisio

Mendrisio is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura of the university of Italian speaking Switzerland ....

. Beroldingen di Magliaso family, also received, in fief, the territory of the Vicinanza

Bürgergemeinde

The Bürgergemeinde is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland...

with all the rights to hunting, fishing, and low justice

High, middle and low justice

High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents....

. After Carlo Corrado, who at the height of his fortune also owned two buildings in Lugano (Villa Favorita and Villa Ciani), the family fortune rapidly declined and they fell further and further into debt. In 1788 the Baron Giuseppe Antonio Beroldingen (fourth lord of Magliaso) gave the castle to Jost Müller of Altdorf

Altdorf, Switzerland

Altdorf is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri. The municipality covers an area of and is located at a height of above sea-level, to the right of the river Reuss.-Location:...

, who kept it until 1798.