Sadly, just as for the castle of Morcote, at the start of the 16h century the castle suffered the same ruinous fate and fell under the blows inflicted by the Swiss. Few traces remain: a column found on the ground floor hall of the town hall, on whose side an arched door gives way to a porch where medieval walls can be seen, and two open porches facing the lake in the direction of the reported castle jetty.

The castle was first mentioned in the 12th century. Towards the end of the Trecento (14th century) the possessions went to Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Count of Pavia and of Valour and, after a number of successions, ended up under the Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza.

The castle, an imposing four-sided building, probably had four towers in its corners, with a sloping base. In its north-east corner, towards the lake, we find a solid, modern building (Casa Poretti) , against which two of the four pillars that supported the entry gate to the castle have been placed. The complex has been considerably restructured over the centuries, to the extent that the original reading is hard to achieve.