Museum's and Monument

The site is well worth a visit. You can still see and walk most of the old battlefield, that is, if you don't walk in the wrong direction like I did and you don't mind wandering through the odd vineyard or two and risk the odd whiff of buckshot. As always, besides the mass of vineyards, orchards and fields of crops, there's a lot of new building going on and the area is covered in a fair amount of industry and motorways. The views from the Solferino Heights are mainly limited by the trees and shrubbery, much as I imagine it might have been in 1796. I think it's possible to climb the tower but it was closed on my visit. Sadly, however, I could find nothing relating to the Battle of Castiglione, in terms of exhibits or monuments, although all the brochures state they exist.

The whole area is geared to the later Battle of Solferino, 1859 where again the French and their Piedmontese allies beat an Austrian Army, and the museum hosts a fair amount of uniforms and other items from this battle, apart from four wrongly dated Austrian helmets.

Even so, the impressive Ossario (Chapel) is worth a visit. Inside can be found 7,000 skulls from the French, Austrian and Italian soldiers who died at Solferino. They are exhibited row upon row, and, at first, it might seem a bit morbid, but it certainly brings you face to face with the reality of war and perhaps offers one of the reasons why Henri Dunant was inspired to create the Red Cross. Nearby there is an international Monument dedicated to the Red Cross.

The castle itself (see photo at right: outside corner nearest Rocca Tower)is a little disappointing, compared to the Rocca Scaligera castle at Sirmione. But some of the old Moorish walls are still visible, as can be seen in the photographs, and the Rocca tower stands almost exactly as it stood in 1796. There is another museum not too far away near Lake Garda at San Martino della Battaglia, which might have something worth seeing.

(Photo at left: inside, same corner nearest Rocca Tower. Church is off picture to left).

Although I never had time to visit it I know it does contain excellent wall size battle murals covering the history of the Italian Risorgimento, so it might well contain something concerning the 1796 battle.

At right, view from Monte Feline: Austrian 2nd Line formed in front of this hill, facing left, from right hand corner to left top. "Volunteer" gets his Napoleon mixed up with his Nelson.

To get there depends on how you travel. I wouldn't recommend public transport unless you've got a lot of time, patience and money. I would aim for Medole and then on to Monte Medolano first, which would give you a better sense of direction and the lay of the battlefield itself. By car you could travel east from Milan to Brescia and then south from Brescia to Mantova (Mantua) via the SS236. Alternatively, from Verona you can head west to Peschiera and then south to Solferino, or head south to Mantova via the SS62 and then north to Castiglione Delle Stiviere via the SS236. Whichever you pick I'd recommend you obtain an up to date map. Be warned, even with maps it's easy to get lost. They don't appear to spend much on road signs in Italy and I found myself wasting several hours each day searching in the wrong direction, which is one of the main reasons I only covered parts of each battlefield in daylight hours. Being there late in September also meant that it began to grow dark very early. The area is changing very quickly so I'd recommend making a visit soon.

Re-enactment Potential

Not bad, although a general battle might be difficult to stage, due to the growth of industry, crops, roadways and new building work, which will probably increase as time goes on. The area around Solferino Castle itself is also very hilly and woody and would restrict public viewing but would be excellent for skirmishing scenarios. But as I've already mentioned, 1996 will be the 200th Anniversary of the battle, along with Arcole, so it would be nice to see something happen on the date before it becomes impossible to do so.

More Castiglione

Introduction
Build-Up (30 July-Aug 4)
Battle (August 5th)
Site Today
Order of Battle

More in the Series

II: Battle of Arcola
III: Battle of Rivoli