Highlighting local Wisconsin castles ahead of coronation of King Charles III

By Michael Fiore

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    CUDAHY, Wisconsin (WDJT) — Part of what draws people to watch the royals is all the pomp and circumstance at Westminster Abbey. But castles aren’t restricted to royalty. Here in Wisconsin, you can get inside a castle at no charge, pretty much any day of the week as we found out today.

Starting in Cudahy – it’s the Dresden Castle – which looks more like a church than a castle, but that’s because it was a church for nearly 100 years. Holy Family was slated to be torn down before some clever developers came in, fixed it up and renamed it “Dresden Castle.”

“This was a polish Catholic church here in Cudahy, and we thought it was fitting because it was going to be demolished. Dresden Castle in Germany was almost demolished in World War II, and it was also rebuilt,” said Jason Philips of Dresden Castle.

A little further south, a fan favorite among Wisconsin castles — it’s the Mars Cheese Castle.

“I think my grandfather wanted customers to feel like they were royalty, so what better way than to have a castle for them to shop in and have fun,” said Michael Ventura of Mars Cheese Castle.

Mars got its name from Michael Ventura’s grandparents, who opened the place in 1947.

“So, the name Mars came from my grandfather, whose name was Mario. His wife’s name was Martha, and their first son was Mario Junior, my father. So, all three of them had the M-A-R in their name,” said Ventura.

Wisconsin also has a handful of other castles — like White Castle. The state’s one and only franchise is in Kenosha.

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