Castello Sforzesco: tickets, tours and free courtyards

Five questions I was asked at the Info Point

Six seasons at the ticket desk, three years in the courtyards with school groups. The questions were always the same, and the answers are short.

Why is Castello Sforzesco famous?

Because it was the court of the Visconti and then the Sforza, with Ludovico il Moro among the richest of its time, and because Leonardo worked there for nearly twenty years. Today it’s famous above all for the Pietà Rondanini, Michelangelo’s final work, which has been in its museums since 2015. The long answer.

Who built the tower of Castello Sforzesco?

It depends on which tower. The two round towers facing the city were built by Bartolomeo Gadio in 1452 for Francesco Sforza. The central tower was started by Filarete in the same year, exploded in 1521, and the one you see today is Luca Beltrami’s 1905 reconstruction. The towers, one by one.

Who lived in Castello Sforzesco?

First the Visconti, who built it as Castello di Porta Giovia between 1360 and 1370; then the Sforza, from Francesco in 1450 to Ludovico il Moro, in the Corte Ducale and the Rocchetta. After 1535, the Spanish and Austrians turned it into a barracks. Who lived there, in order.

Who owns the Castello today?

The City of Milan, which has housed the Civic Museums there since the late 19th century. That’s why museum tickets are bought at the Castello ticket office and are free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month. The owner, and what it means for you.

What does Sforzesco mean?

The Sforzas, the dukes of Milan in the 15th and 16th centuries. The castle that Francesco Sforza rebuilt from 1450 on the ruins of the Visconti one took the family’s name—and has never lost it. The word, and where it comes from.

The Castello Sforzesco, explained

I grew up in the Sempione area, worked six seasons at the Info Point and the castle’s ticket office, then spent three years guiding school groups through the courtyards. I’ve seen the same scene hundreds of times: a family queuing at the wrong office, a group arriving on Monday with museum tickets in hand, a couple who’d paid a guide for a courtyard they could have entered on their own.

The fortress is free, the museums are not

The Castello has two schedules and two rules. The courtyards—that is, the Piazza d’Armi, which you enter through the Torre del Filarete, the Corte Ducale where the dukes lived, and the enclosed courtyard of the Rocchetta—are open every day from 7:00 to 19:30 and cost nothing. There’s no turnstile and no ticket.

The museums are a different matter. A single ticket covers them all, from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:30, with the ticket office closing at 16:30 and last entry at 17:00. They’re closed on Mondays, as well as on December 25, January 1, and May 1. That ticket is sold at the castle’s ticket office and at the civic museums’ online shop; it’s free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month, always free under 18, and free under 25 on the second Tuesday of the month. It won’t sell out. Nothing in this building requires an online reservation to enter. What’s free and when.

Three types of offer, and who gets into the museums

The ticket is bought at the entrance, so the six online offers sell three different things, and it’s worth distinguishing them before reading the titles, which almost all use the word “tour”.

Two options sell the same museum ticket with a downloadable audio guide for your phone. The voucher is picked up at the office at Piazza Castello 1, not at the castle ticket office, and you bring your own headphones and charged phone. One of the two adds, optionally, a walk on the merlons, which involve stairs, and states it is not suitable for those with mobility issues. Neither is a guided tour.

Three offers sell a live guide, which is the only thing the ticket office cannot provide. The small-group tour lasts an hour and a half, with headsets for up to 11 people and museum entry included, and starts in front of the Pietà Rondanini. The private tour lasts two hours, starts at the fountain and ends in front of the Pietà; the operator may cancel it after confirmation if too few people have signed up. The private skip-the-line tour runs from 2 to 5 hours, with one licensed guide per maximum of 9 people, and in the longer versions adds a private car and the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio. The six offers, divided by type.

The sixth option is a tour of the Last Supper. Skip-the-line ticket for The Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie, 15 minutes in the room, an art history guide, then a 15-minute walk to the Castello, where you visit the courtyards. The museums are excluded, and the description states this. It’s only in English, requires the names of all participants at booking, and offers free cancellation only up to 3 days before. It’s a good tour of the Last Supper. It’s not a way to access the Castello’s museums.

The Pietà is the reason for the ticket

When people at the ticket desk asked me if it was worth paying, I’d answer with a question: do you want to see the Pietà Rondanini? Michelangelo worked on it until just days before his death in February 1564, when he was almost 90. It’s unfinished, the figures are elongated, and since 2015 it has been housed in the former Ospedale Spagnolo, with its museum. If the answer is yes, the ticket is worth it, and a guide in front of that sculpture makes it even more so, because the unfinished is best understood when someone points it out. The same ticket gets you into the Museum of Ancient Art with the Armoury, the Pinacoteca with Mantegna’s Madonna Trivulzio, and the other museums. The Pietà Rondanini.

The Sala delle Asse is closed

Many come for Leonardo. He worked at the court of Ludovico il Moro for nearly twenty years, and in 1498 he painted a pergola of eighteen mulberry trees with knotted golden ropes in the Sala delle Asse: the mulberry, the ‘moro’, was the duke’s emblem. The room was whitewashed for centuries, rediscovered by Beltrami in 1893, repainted by Ernesto Rusca in 1902, and since 2012 it has been under scientific restoration. In 2026 it is closed; the museum has organized visits to the scaffolding, and the goal is to reopen it around the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. None of the six options promise it, and I won’t promise a date. Today, in the museums, you won’t see any Leonardo: the Pietà is by Michelangelo and the ducal apartments are from Bramante’s era. The Sala delle Asse restoration site.

The day, in practice

You can reach it by taking the M1 to Cairoli-Castello, a two- or three-minute walk, or the M2 to Lanza or Cadorna; from the Duomo it’s a kilometer along Via Dante, about 15 minutes. The main entrance is the Torre del Filarete; the one on the Cadorna and park side is quieter. There’s a security check in the museums, and no cafés: eat before or after in the park. The courtyards are flat; the museums are a multi-level fortress, and it’s best to ask for the accessible route at the Info Point.

The best day is a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday afternoon. Late Saturday morning and the first Sunday of the month—which is free—are the busiest times. From Friday to Sunday, the Castello independently manages the walk along the Merlate panoramiche, about 40 minutes from the Info Point, included in the museum ticket. On Mondays, you can only visit the courtyards and the park. Which tour I’d book, and for whom.