The castle of Ivano (from the name of the Ivano family) is an imposing structure built in the 6th century erected on the promontory of Monte Lefre in the Valsugana and Tesino Community in Trentino.
The exact origin of the castle is unknown, but there are various hypotheses about it. According to Montebello, it was of Lombard origin and was erected in the late sixth or early seventh century. It would have been adopted, after 1187, as a monastery of Templar fathers and Benedictine monks or it would have been a place of refuge for the population of the villages of the eastern Valsugana. According to tradition, moreover, the castle was built on the site of a Roman fort, built in turn on an earlier archaeological substrate.
There were many changes of ownership before reaching the current owner family. According to the reconstruction of Fabris, from 1228 to 1259 it belonged to Ezzelino III da Romano, at the time also owner of Feltre under whose jurisdiction the area where the castle stands fell. Upon his death in 1259, he passed to the bishops-counts from Camino di Feltre. In 1311 the de Ivano family took over the jurisdiction of Castelnuovo-Caldonazzo, even if a document reported by Gorfer mentions the investiture "made on 17 January 1302 in Castro Yvani, of the tenth of Caldonazzo to the dominus Bonaventura of Giordano di Vigolo. Fabris however, he considers it more probable as the year of the transfer of ownership in 1296. In 1314, the bishop of Feltre Alessandro Novello recognized the right of the sword to the lords of Valsuganotti and the jurisdiction of the castle initially included Strigno, Ivano, Fracena, Villa, Agnedo, Ospedaletto, Scurelle , Spera, Samone and Bieno, to which were added, in 1333, Grigno and, in 1356, the towns of Tesino.
For a short period it belonged to the Visconti and the Republic of Venice and then returned to the Counts of Tyrol (Duke Federico IV, called "Tascavuota") in 1412; the following year the castle fell into the hands of the Bishop of Feltre, Enrico de Scarampis. In 1452 Giacomo Trapp had the manor restored, enlarged and improved the housing and service units. During the war between the Duke Sigismondo of Austria and Venice it was conquered by the troops of the Serenissima Republic on 7 August 1487. The Venetian dominion lasted until 1491 after which it returned again under the control of the counts of Tyrol. In 1496 Maximilian I granted the castle to Michele Wolkenstein-Rodeneck. In 1525, during the Rustic War, the peasants besieged the castle and killed Giorgio Pucler.
In the years from 1915 to 1918 during the First World War, the castle was subjected to many heavy bombings, which created significant damage to the structure. After the war it was sold to Franz Staudacher, who carried out a complete renovation of the complex. During the Second World War, the bombings were less severe than in the past and mainly affected the roofs. Since 1982 the castle has been an International Center of Culture, owned by the Staudacher family. The castle is used as a private home, owned by the Staudacher family: it can therefore be visited by appointment to be fixed by contacting the secretariat. From summer 2013 it is possible to book for visits also on weekends (June - September) and hosts events such as biological tastings and medieval-themed dinners.
The oldest part of the castle was built between the 11th and 12th centuries AD; it includes the keep, the entrance and the surrounding courtyard. The keep, a fundamental feature of medieval castles, is the main tower of the manor, where, in case of attack, the population took refuge. It has a rectangular plan measuring 6.8x10 meters; its walls are 1.40 m thick and 15 m high. Initially, the latter were lower and were raised to their present size during the 16th century. The keep is without a cusp and has a top battlements that acts as a decoration.
