Built in the 10th century, it became the property of the powerful Montecchi family in the 13th century. The castle was rebuilt and strengthened by Ezzelino III da Romano in 1243. In 1269 the building was occupied by Pulcinella delle Carceri and some exiles from Verona, fighting against Mastino I della Scala, who used it as his own refuge.
In 1279 it was donated to Niccolò della Scala, son of Mastino I, by the pope Pope Niccolò III, in gratitude to the Scaligeri for their capture, in Sirmione, of a group of Albigensian heretics (Cathars).
At the beginning of the 15th century it was occupied by the Republic of Venice, after wresting it from the Carraresi, allied at that time with Guglielmo della Scala, illegitimate son of Cangrande II della Scala, elected by them as lord of Verona in 1404.
For his military merits, the Venetians in 1509 granted Illasi as a fief to their valiant leader Count Girolamo Pompei, known as "Malanchino", whose family had boasted rights in those places for centuries. The leader deserved the credit for having captured and translated into Venetian prisons on 8 August of the same year, the Marquis of Mantua Francesco II Gonzaga, who had set out to conquer Legnago.
[Wikipedia]