A PIECE OF HEAVEN

Castles in Campania

  • LETTERE - The rediscovered Castle is also museum

    In the night, the scenographic lights enhance and soften the imposing shapes of the fortress with four towers, subtracted from the aggressions of time and the effects of a long abandonment.

  • FAICCHIO - Many churches around the tiny "Castel Nuovo"

    Similar to Castel Nuovo, the great fortress on the sea of the capital, albeit smaller in size.

  • PROCIDA – Palazzo D’Avalos

    Dall’alto del promontorio che giganteggia sul mare, sembra vegliare ancora sull’isola. Come quando, allora moderna fortezza, difendeva il borgo dalle invasioni dei saraceni, che tanta morte e distruzione avevano seminato nei secoli precedenti.

  • GESUALDO – Il castello della musica

    Dall’altura di cui occupa la sommità, il castello di Gesualdo domina maestoso la valle del Calore. E veglia protettivo sul borgo di pietra che gli crebbe intorno nel Medio Evo, fasciando interamente i fianchi della collina fino ai fertili terreni della pianura sottostante.

  • BAIA - Aragonese Castle

    In the Aragonese Castle of Baiais located the Archaeological Museum of the Phlegraean Fields, emblem of this Land of the Myth. The castle was built in a strategic position on a tuff promontory, to dominate the entire Gulf of Pozzuoli and that arm of the sea including the three Neapolitan islands. It was built on the ruins of a Roman villa its remains can be seen from the sea) and was an exemplary fortification for the time, with walls, moats and
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  • LAURO - Il Castello Lancellotti

    È un’apparizione che suscita stupore e ammirazione all’ingresso del Vallo di Lauro. Come uscito da una fiaba, s’impone allo sguardo il magnifico Castello Lancellotti, che sorge con le sue torri, le mura merlate,

  • VATOLLA - The castle where Giovan Battista Vico conceived the "New Science"

    The rich library of the convent of Santa Maria della Pietà, in the countryside outside the hamlet of Vatolla, was an irresistible attraction. Giovan BattistaVico was often there, as soon as his commitments as tutor of the children of baron Domenico Rocca, owner of the castle left him free time.

  • SALERNO - Il castello di Arechi

    Fin dalla prima volta che aveva visto il posto, era stato chiaro al duca Arechi II che lì era tutto ciò che cercava. Una posizione favorevole, innanzitutto. Dalla cima del monte, chiamato Bonadies proprio perché per prima era baciata ogni giorno dal sole sorgente, si osservava tutto il golfo e si teneva sotto controllo il mare in tutte le direzioni. E tutt’intorno le altre colline le facevano scudo da

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  • PIOPPI - Vinciprova Palace

    The Ripoli, rich merchants who arrived in Pollica in the Aragonese period, came from Catalonia. In the Cilento town where they settled, their wealth multiplied, and they used this richness to also build an imposing castle on the sea, in the nearby hamlet of Pioppi.

  • ROCCADASPIDE - Feudal Castle Filomarino

    A spur of rock between Mount Alburno to the north and Mount Vesole to the south, dominating the Calore Lucano valley. An ideal location, naturally protected, immediately noticed by the first inhabitants of that region, of Etruscan origins, and which later attracted the attention of the Greeks of Poseidonia as well.

  • RIARDO - The Lombard castle

    It was the powerful Lombard family of the Castaldei who wanted it, together with many other fortresses in strategic places in the county of Capua. The Riardo Castle was built in the second half of the 9th century, on the hill overlooking the plain of the Savone stream, which arises from the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina.

  • ALVIGNANO - the Aragonese Castle

    From its position, on the slopes of the Trebulani mountains, the castle of Alvignano, the ancient Cubulteria, dominates the entire valley of the middle Volturno. The original structure, dating back to the 11th century, had probably incorporated a pre-existing square tower.

  • CONCA DELLA CAMPANIA – The castle in a volcano

    There is a castle inside the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, on a natural saddle in the territory of the municipality of Conca della Campania. Its origin coincided with the birth of the fief of Conca in the12th century. The castrum, with a major tower in the south-eastern corner, was then reinforced with a belt of straight walls and watch towers.

  • TORRECUSO - From Longobard castle to Caracciolo-Cito palace.

    At 420 meters of heights, on the slopes of Mount Pentime, third peak of the Taburno massif, the castle of Torrecuso rises superbly, towering over the town that bears reference to its elevated position even in its name.

  • CASALDUNI - The castle on the Regio Tratturo and the Francigena.

    The location was definitely favorable given its proximity to Regio Tratturo and Via Francigena. And it represented a strong incentive for the growth of the small town of Casaldunion the slope of Mount Cicco, on the right side of the Tammaro River. 

  • THE DISCOVERED CASTLE - SECRETS IN THE CATHEDRAL

    Aragonese Castle - Island of Ischia

    They are the survivors of a large group of silent witnesses. For over a century, they observed from above the sumptuous celebrations in the great cathedral dedicated to the Assumption, the religious heart of the Aragonese Castle, which had already ceded almost all its functions and population to the large island. Scattered in every corner, the

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  • Royal Palace

    The Royal Palace is symbol of Spanish greatness and it was built on a design of the great architect Domenico Fontana, in a strategic location, not far from the port and in front of a perfect flat space for military parades and large gatherings of people. It was 1600 and two years earlier Fernandez Ruiz de Castro was appointed Naples viceroy by Philip III.

  • Castel dell’Ovo

    The history of Castel dell’Ovo (literally "Egg Castle") cannot be separated from the one of the islet of yellow tuff near the coastline called Megaride, where according to the myth, te siren Parthenope is buried.

  • Castel Capuano

    Overlooking the central Via dei Tribunali, behind Porta Capuana, access to the road connecting with the ancient Capua,  Castel Capuano, apart from the evocative name of its original function, is commonly assimilated to one of the several palaces of the historic centre of Naples, courthouse of the city. This explains the reason why it has been the city’s courthouse for centuries.

  • Castle St. Elmo

    From the top of the Vomero Hill, Castel Sant’Elmo dominates the whole city and represents an ideal observation point of its entire gulf. It was precisely the strategic position of the hill, anciently known as Paturcium, which from the 10th century housed the small church of Sant’Erasmo, that suggested to Robert of Anjou the idea of building a palatium castrum.

  • Castel Nuovo or Maschio Angioino

    It is the most famous Castle in Naples, symbol of the city, and is the most recent of all. It is not explained by the name “Maschio Angioino” with which we know it nowadays, but with the obsolete name that, in an eloquent way, identified it compared to the others when it was built: Castel Nuovo (“New Castle”). 

  • AVELLINO - Il castello

    Settanta castelli delle più diverse epoche e con le più varie caratteristiche. Rovine illustri e cariche di suggestioni che connotano la terra irpina e contribuiscono al suo fascino.

  • BENEVENTO - The Rectors' fortress, the castle

    Higher building in the city. A prestigious location in the place known as the "court plane," once in a defensive and strategic point ofe view, now simply for the beauty of the landscape admired from there.