Casale Monferrato

Casale stands on the southern bank of the Po at the foot of the hills of Montferrat. A settlement grew here around the church of Saint Evasius, and the town became an important centre of trade. In the fifteenth century it served as the capital of the marquises of Montferrat of the Palaiologos family.

Casale had come under the marquises in 1292, though the Visconti of Milan held the town from 1370 to 1404. In 1536 it passed to the Gonzaga of Mantua, who built strong fortifications and a citadel. Its position on the Po made the town a valuable frontier fortress during the wars of the seventeenth century, including the bitter War of the Mantuan Succession, when it endured sieges by rival armies.