Castello Orsini Odesalchi

Pros: It's a castle!
Cons: Are you kidding me? There are none. It's a castle! Although Tom Cruise got married in it which is a bit of a downer but still, castle!

Oh God. Oh God. We're almost there.

I have such a love for old buildings. They all have stories to tell and the history seems to drip from the walls and it's incredible what man has been able to build before machines and and and they're great.

More castle!

Even more castle! Sorry, I'll stop.

Castello Orsini Odesalchi was built in the late 1400's/early 1500's. It was never conquered due to it's prime location on top of a high hill with a lake covering its back. The walls are built is such a way that keeps the elements out, making all the paint in the castle fairly well preserved.

Animals were brought in alive and butchered in the kitchen. Drains were set up to allow the blood to flow outside. The oven could fit four cow-sized animals at once.

Bronze kitchen pans.

Vases and junk.

Only the kitchen and outside were available for picture taking so I'll just throw out some random facts for the rest even though they won't have anything to do with the picture at hand.

The symbol of the Orsinis was a five petaled rose. Since no rose has five petals, it looked more like a red buttercup. Mother bears statues were also common since that was protector of the castle.

Isabelle of the Medici family, 11, married Paolo Orsini, 12. It was a political marriage so she had no love for her husband. She would take a lover for the night and have him leave through a secret door. On the other side was a 300 foot pit with razor blades to cut up the man. Lye was at the bottom to destroy all traces of the body. Royalty.

Paolo didn't love his wife either and fell in love with another woman. He killed Isabelle "elegantly" by strangling her with a piece of red silk. Again, royalty.

Toilets were chairs with chamber pots underneath them. Seats could be lowered and the chair would also be used for recieving guests and eating. Ew. Male toilets were large and comfortable while female toilets were small and cramped.

The sizes of the beds were what you would expect a 10 year old to sleep in. People were so tiny back then.

After a series of auctions, the castle wound up in the Odesalchi family, hence the name.

That's about it. I regret that pictures weren't allowed inside.