Bracciano & its Castle
The municipality of Bracciano is nestled in the Sabatini mountains on the shores of Lake Bracciano – located ~19 miles northwest of Rome. The town is on a hill above the south-western shores of Lake Bracciano. The enchanting medieval town of Bracciano is cross-crossed by narrow streets and dominated by the famous 15th century Orsini Odescalchi Castle. If you’re a regular dabbler in the gossip columns, then you will likely recognize the castle as the place where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes tied the knot way back in 2006.
The Castle is pentagonal in shape and has three outer walls with five towers, one at each vertex of the outer fortification. The castle was built by Braccio da Montone and then passed to the Orsini family at the request of Pope Martin V (1418). At the end of the 17th century, following the decline of the Orsini family, the Duke of Bracciano and the castle were purchased by the Odescalchi family, who are the current owners.
