Castello Brown, Portofino

This is another example of a great piece of art, displayed in castle Brown.
The castle is open daily between 10.00 a.m. and 05.00 p.m.
The entrance-fee was 3,- €uros in 2003.
Click on my link below and read more about it in their webpage !

There is a rather large terrace around the castle ,with the famous great view over the bay of Portofino.
And the huge Pinetree, planted by Mr. Brown in 1875 gives a great shady atmosphere up there on a hot day.

Only the entrance hall of Castle Brown was fully furnished,all the other rooms just showed the photo-exhibition, but of course you could imagine what a great kind of living it was up there on the hill with such a great view and fresh air all day in castle Brown.

In 2003 there was a small entrance fee of 3,- € for the castle.
For this ticket you were able to walk around the castle on your own and enjoy the view from the garden and terrace.
And in addition there was a special photo-exhibition showing plenty of Hollywood-celebrities spending their vacations here in Portofino in the 1950's and 1960's.
I dont think that this was a permanent exhibition.

In the 19th century Mr. Brown bought the castle. He restored it and planted plenty of trees around the castle, including the 2 pinetrees, that became that very huge and impressive, that you will be able to see them already from the port down in the bay of Portofino.
I was there in the end of march, and saw these small oranges already on the trees

It was the very special place on top of this mountain, overlooking the mediteranean Sea as well as the whole bay of Rapallo, that was the reason to build this castle plenty of centuries ago. And nowadays tourists are able to enjoy that perfect panorama-view from up there.

Walking up to the castle will take about 20minutes from San Giorgio church on an easy and smooth path.
The small path will pass by small towers like this one, that belonged to the fortress once , but they are privately owned today.

From the terrace of the castle you will have the very best view of Portofino and all the coastline towards La Spezia, as well as to the open Mediteranean Sea.
The flower on my photograph was already blooming in the end of march 2003, so you will realize how moderate and warm the climate is in this region of Liguria.

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Its name is Castle Brown. It was built on Roman foundations. Around 1000 it was donated to the Benedictine monks of S. Fruttuoso and was subsequently handed over to the consuls of Rapallo and in the 15th century to the Genovese. It was property of the Visconti of Milano between 1425 and 1435. It was restored at the beginning of the 1500 and enlarged between 1622 and 1624. Montague Yeats Brown; English consul in Genoa bought the property in 1867. His descendants held the property until 1949, then sold it to an English couple.

The castle has lots of rooms to visit. There you can see many black and white pictures of actors, politicians and other famous people who visited Portofino in the 1950-60's.

Castle brown has a garden, but unfortunately it was closed when I was there. Anyway I enjoyed the terrasse and the landscape from there.

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Castello Brown was built in the 16th century and had important strategic purpose in defending Portofino bay against the intruders. It is perfectly positioned controlling the entrance into the bay but also, the open sea from the other side.
Later on, close to end of the 19th century, the castle was purchased by Montague Yeats Brown, the English consul in Genoa. It becomes his residence and was transformed to a comfortable villa.
Since 1961 the castle is property of the city of Portofino housing the fine museum.