San Vitale Fortress was built in the early 12th Century. It has undergone much restoration over the centuries; the external wall originally being much taller and thought to be 14th Century. Once, part of the south tower was used as a prison. Another room contains family portraits of the Sanvitale clan from the 17th and 19th centuries. In the Farnese family wing there are portraits of the family. Religious paintings are by Giovan Francesco Nuvolone and Jean Sons, and 288 maps are of the 18th Century. Giovanni Gaibazzi and Giuseppe Bossi were responsible for the painted hall of grotesques (1861).
