Castello Ducale Cantelmo
| Castello Ducale Cantelmo | ||
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.jpg) Castello Ducale Cantelmo |
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| Alternative name (s): | Castello di Popoli | |
| Creation time : | 1000s | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruins | |
| Construction: | Quarry stone | |
| Place: | Popoli | |
| Geographical location | 42 ° 10 '23.4 " N , 13 ° 50' 19.1" E | |
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The Castello Ducale Cantelmo is the ruin of a hilltop castle on the slopes of Monte Morrone above the historic center of the municipality of Popoli in the province of Pescara .
history
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The castle was built around a Longobard tower from the 11th century to guard the passage over the gorges of Popoli and to protect the abbey church of San Clemente a Casauria . The triangular wall structure as it can be seen today was built by the Bishop of Valva , Tidolfo , in the years 1000-1015, but it was built at the end of the 15th century by the Cantelmos , the feudal lords from 1269 to the end of the 17th century , fundamentally rebuilt. In the mid-1000s, the Count of Manoppello , Ugo Malmozzetto , who clearly controlled the valley , seized the castle on behalf of Robert I of Loritello and entrusted it to one of his lieutenants. The Chronicon Casauriense mentions an anecdote in which Count Ugo Malmozzotto , an unconventional and power-hungry man, was lured near the castle in 1097 by a princess of the neighboring fortress of Prezza with a ruse called "Castrum Pauperim" in the documents . Ugo Malmozzotto was caught and killed by her brothers who came to attack him.
The castle served the Cantelmos as a residence until 1480 when it was converted into the Palazzo Ducale di Popoli (Eng .: Palace of the Counts of Popoli). During the years of the reign of the Cantelmos , who arrived in Abruzzo in 1269 in the entourage of Charles I of Naples , the castle was rebuilt, especially in the Aragonese period after the earthquake of 1456. The large, cylindrical south tower is an example of this, whereas the pentagonal tower, the so-called “Upper Man”, has been changed in the old style of an irregular pentagon.
The castle is similar in layout to other Norman fortresses in Abruzzo in the province of L'Aquila , such as the castles of Bominaco , San Pio delle Camere , Barisciano and Stiffe . Initially, the population took refuge in the triangular enclosure to defend themselves against attack, but between the 13th and 14th centuries, when the Popoli settlement extended further down into the valley (the oldest part of the settlement includes the area between the churches of San Lorenzo and Santissima Trinità ), the castle increasingly lost its strategic importance.
In fact, the subject Cantelmos with Count Restaino near the same count's palace with the beautiful loggia from the Renaissance to, between the Via Cavour (formerly Via del Colle and) Piazza Regina Margherita (formerly Piazza della Libertà ) is located; its complex opens like a kind of trapezoid against the stairs of the "twin churches".
The castle was seriously damaged in the earthquake of 1706 and was no longer rebuilt. In a copper engraving from the 19th century one can still see a vestige of a Renaissance-style loggia, which no longer exists. After the earthquake of 2009, extensive maintenance work, including the restoration of the towers, which was completed from 2012 to 2015, and the modernization of the access walkway from the settlement Popoli from that already in the 1920s by the famous engineer Corradino D'Ascanio been traced out had become necessary.
description
The fortress is on the Strada statale Tiburtina above Popoli. It is a "fenced castle", similar to other facilities in the neighboring province of L'Aquila, such as B. the castles of San Pio delle Camere, Barisciano or Fossa .
The wall system is triangular and at the highest corner there is the original, pentagonal lookout tower, whereas further down there is a square and a cylindrical tower, which were built later. Count Restaino IV. Cantelmo had the large, cylindrical tower, which is particularly in the Renaissance style, built.
The castle, the ruins of which have recently been restored, can be visited.
Individual evidence
swell
- Marialuce Latini: Guide ai Castelli d'Abruzzo . Carsa, Pescara 2000. ISBN 88-85854-87-7 . Pp. 120-121: Popoli (PE), Il castello-recinto .
Web links
- Castello Cantelmo . Abruzzo region. Retrieved April 17, 2020.