Canossa (Castle)
| Canossa Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Ruins of Canossa Castle |
||
| State : | Italy (IT) | |
| Location: | Canossa | |
| Time of origin : | 10th century | |
| Castle type : | hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Construction: | quarry stone | |
| Geographical location: | 44° 35′ N , 10° 27′ E | |
| Altitude: | 576 m | |
|
||
Canossa was a castle in northern Italy and the seat of the powerful margraves of Canossa . It became known as the residence of the Margravine Mathilde von Canossa (1046-1115). Here, in January 1077, King Henry IV met Pope Gregory VII on his way to Canossa to obtain a solution to the ban on the Church .
The castle was built in a strategic position on the edge of the Apennines between Bologna and Parma , 18 kilometers southwest of the Italian provincial capital of Reggio nell'Emilia at an altitude of 576 meters above sea level .
story
Adalbert Atto (939-988), Count of Canossa, had the castle built in the 10th century.
In 1092 Henry IV suffered a serious defeat at the hands of Mathilde's troops on his second campaign in Italy near Canossa.
In 1255 the castle was damaged during fighting between the Ghibellines and Guelphs . In 1320 it belonged to Giberto III. da Correggio , then Signore of Parma and Correggio . He had the building restored but at the same time converted into a mansion . In 1412 the castle was conquered by the troops of Niccolò III. d'Este besieged and damaged.
In 1449 Leonello d'Este acquired the building. In 1452 Borso d'Este had the castle restored again. In 1570 Alfonso II d'Este gave Canossa as a fief to Boniface Ruggeri, Count of Reggio nell'Emilia. Boniface Ruggeri had the building restored and expanded again. In 1642 Francesco I d'Este gave the fief to the Valentini family. With brief interruptions ( Ottavio Farnese took it in 1557), the castle remained in the possession of the Este family from 1449 to 1796 ( Italian campaign ) and the fief was administered by the Valentini family from 1642 to 1796.
In 1819 the Valentini family received the castle back as part of the restoration . In 1846, a falling boulder triggered a landslide that damaged the building. This event was also commented on in German magazines. In 1877 a local mountain association published a book about the Apennines between Secchia and Enza, La montagna fra la Secchia e l'Enza . In it they pointed out the poor condition of the castle and the need for excavations . As a result, the Italian state acquired the ruins in 1878 and declared them a national monument .
Today's condition
Today the castle is a ruin; Conservation work prevented further deterioration. The extensions of the building by Mathilde, the damage of 1255 and the reconstruction by Guilberto da Correggio in the 14th century destroyed all traces of the 10th-century building.
gallery pictures
Engraving of the castle from an 1872 edition of the Gazebo
The Rock of Canossa in the fog
Current state of Canossa Castle
Inside the ruin
_b_713.jpg)
web links
- Reconstruction drawing by Wolfgang Braun
- Castle website (Italian)
itemizations
- ^ a b c d e Isabella Di Cicco: Storia del castello. Il Castello dalle origini agli scavi archeologici. In: Castle of Canossa. Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali , retrieved 1 October 2012 (Italian).
- ↑ Castle of Canossa. (No longer available online.) In: castellimatildici.it. Archived from the original on September 7, 2011 ; Retrieved September 29, 2012 (Italian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
