The elegant Spessa Castle stands on a gently rolling hill surrounded by a magnificent Italian-style garden in the heart of the Collio area of Gorizia. Since its origin in the thirteenth century, it has been the residence of Friuli nobility for hundreds of years. Starting in the 16th
century, illustrious families owned the castle: first the Dornberks, then the Rassauer family, and later the Della Torre Valsassina family, who owned it for more than 300 years. Eminent figures have stayed there over the centuries: among others, the famous author and adventurer Giacomo Casanova, after whom the prestigious award that Spessa Castle hosts every summer is named.