Masciantonio Castle
| Masciantonio Castle | ||
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 Masciantonio Castle and Santa Maria Maggiore Church |
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| Alternative name (s): | Castello Ducale | |
| Creation time : | 15th century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | restored | |
| Construction: | Quarry stone | |
| Place: | Casoli | |
| Geographical location | 42 ° 7 '7.8 " N , 14 ° 17' 32.6" E | |
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The Castello Masciantonio , also Castello Ducale , is a castle at the highest point of the Italian municipality of Casoli in the province of Chieti .
history
A castrum in Casoli was mentioned for the first time in the "memoratorium" of the abbot Bertario di Montecassino from before 833. The area of Casoli appears at the latest from 1143 in the county of Manoppello , which Johanna I of Naples gave Napoleon II Orsini as a fief in 1344 .
The pentagonal tower, around which the castle was probably built, was probably built from the 12th century, during the Norman period, as an extension of an existing watchtower from the Lombard period . The citizens of the Roman city "Cluviae" ( La Roma ), which was then besieged by the Saracens , settled there. The first building structure can be ascribed to Prince Orsini, whose rule over the Casoli fief, included in the County of Manoppello, influenced the course of the 14th and 15th centuries.
In addition to the tower, which must probably have had smaller dimensions, a building with two floors was developed. The building structure was consolidated with the Prince of Aquino , who acquired the castle on May 2, 1642. They are responsible for the construction of the “palace” next to the tower. The building as we see it today was finally completed when the castle belonged to the Masciantonio family (1868–1982); their intervention gave the palace a stately appearance.
The Orsinis definitely lost their fiefdom in 1514: Casoli and its castle later belonged to Fabrizio and Ascanio Colonna , then to the Cerafas , the Crispanos and the Filomarinos . In 1642 Tommaso d'Aquino , a nobleman from Taranto , who also received the hereditary title of Count of Casoli in 1645, acquired the fief.
The D'Aquinos kept the county until the abolition of feudal rule in 1806, but the castle also in the following decades. In 1858 Tommaso Enrico d'Aquino sold the castle to his wife Teresa de Sangro , who gave it to Domenicantino di Benedetto , the former manager of the D'Aquinos estate in Casoli, in 1863 . In 1916 he bequeathed the castle to his daughter Concetta , married Masciantonio .
Pasquale Masciantonio , the son of Concetta, was a well-known lawyer and member of parliament and hosted Gabriele D'Annunzio , whose friend and financier he was, as well as Francesco Paolo Michetti , Francesco Paolo Tosti , Edoardo Scarfoglio , Matilde Serao and Guglielmo Marconi . D'Annunzio left writings of his many thoughts on the walls of his room.
The Masciantonios sold the castle to the municipality of Casoli in 1982.
It has recently been restored and is open to cultural exhibitions and public events such as B. the "Notte Bianca" (German: White Night).
In 2019 the new Museo Civico Archeologico was inaugurated, showing the sculptures that come from the Italian city of “Cluviae” in the La Roma district .
The castle during the war, foundation of the Brigata Maiella
On December 1, 1944, a delegation of personalities from the English commander who had administered the city went to Sant'Eusanio to ask that Casoli also be symbolically taken. The English command set up at the castle, asked for civilian volunteers in the war operations against the Germans and the participation was numerous, as the citizens still remembered the harassment they had suffered and shared a common desire to visit the area of to free the oppressors.
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At first the English command was reluctant when the lawyer from Torricella , Ettore Troilo , agreed to create a civil group of young volunteers, many of them from Casoli and also from the surrounding villages of Gessopalena, Torricella, Civitella, Fara, Lama and pizzoferrato came. When the arrangements were made, Major Lionel Wigram came to Casoli; Troilos' idea was the official founding of the "Maiella Volunteer Corps", which joined the British VIII Army, which operated on the Adriatic Line until its dissolution on May 5, 1945.
Despite the British protection, Casoli was shot at several times from the Guardiagrele plain in June 1944 . On December 5, 1943, many from the countryside around Torricella Peligna , where the civil families had fled after the evacuation of the village, went to Casoli, including the young people led by Ettore Troilo . In the discussions with the New Zealand generals, apart from the desire to form a partisan task force, Troilo's requests for the restoration of the road from Casoli to Torricella, which had been destroyed by German landmines, and the conquest of Torricella by the New Zealanders before the Germans practically left “scorched earth” behind, and the offer of the residents of Torricello to guide the Allies with knowledge of the area. The English lieutenant accepted the proposal to repair the road, which was done immediately, while the main requirement for provisions and ammunition to form the Maiella volunteer corps was also put into practice.
However, there was a moment of mistrust among the English because, as Nicola Troilo (1930-2017), the son of Ettore Troilo , relates, the English commandant specified that he would be serving the citizens of Civitella Messer on December 6th and 7th Raimondo had given permission to arm himself with ammunition raked at the site of the clashes with the Germans at the request of a civilian's English wife. The English major advised Ettore Troilo to retire to the Allied headquarters, which was located in the New Tavern of Casoli, and warned that he had asked his intelligence service to procure weapons himself. Conversation with the English went from questioning to extreme suspicion, so much so that the lawyer’s request was classified as "absurd and ridiculous", including complaining about the Italians' alleged peculiarity of behaving like traitors in wartime. Ettore Troilo continued to act as a mediator, enduring the English insults and stereotypes against the Italians, while Casoli slowly became a kind of “open city”, like Chieti , in which the displaced from the main centers of the Aventino could stay; the farms and stables were also used, including the churches of Santa Maria Maggiore and Santa Raparata , where hundreds of people were housed. While the conversations continued, life in the village was difficult to resume and Nicola Troilo wrote down the episode of the marble tablet in the fish market used by the women to knead the bread dough that was being given out to the population had gathered in one place, cold or warm, to receive their proper ration.
The general nervousness increased until the civilians, collecting further quantities of food and wood, approached the villages that were still occupied by the Germans and in doing so violated the Allied military command's prohibition on approaching the front move. Many farmers were arrested for no precise reason, charged as spies and collaborators and transferred to Castello Ducale, with Ettore Troilo asking daily who knew the suspected culprits. In January 1944 further refugees arrived, this time from the upper Val di Sangro and from the Piana delle Cinquemiglia : Roccaraso , Ateleta , Castel di Sangro , Rivisondoli and Rocca Pia , all places badly damaged or even destroyed by the Germans. The refugees, who had been sorted since December 1943, stayed where they were, while the others were transferred to the San Selvo and Vasto camps and were only able to return to their places in 1945–1946. These decisions brought about by the extreme situation - extremely not only due to the hygienic and sanitary conditions of the civilian population, but also due to the difficulty of military operations due to the snowfall - led to a series of protests and moral unease among the displaced.
The lawyer Troilo was entrusted by the English command with the establishment of some civilian police stations, which were supposed to control the settlements and guarantee public order, as well as to support the displaced persons, to sort and class them, to control and prevent looting actions in the direction of the enemy front, Collect reports of collaborators, ensure curfew is adhered to, and record possible theft and looting. While the Troilo committee was dealing with these tasks - against payment - and when the lawyer was busy restoring the trafficability of the roads between Casoli and the neighboring towns, Major Lionel Wigram came to the village, who was immediately enthusiastic about Troilo's efforts , to form a volunteer corps Maiella , agreed to shoulder all responsibility by speaking to his superiors at headquarters and offering to make his auxiliary personnel available for the next military action against the Germans.
Thus, Ettore Troilo by their superiors in the Taverna Nuova called and listened to his points to the formation of volunteer corps precisely where he carried out that the patriotic intentions of the group did not include political or subversive ideals, that there was no ulterior motive, if not the, the To push Germans back from Abruzzo. The special, "non-political" character of the group convinced the superiors, also thanks to the interference of Wigram , especially when Troilo stated that the Liberation Corps would fight on the side of the Allies until the complete liberation of Italy, and not just the Abruzzo region. Every fighter should be allowed the freedom to express his own political belief, as long as this does not conflict with the key points of the treaty establishing the volunteer corps, the corps would be adequately equipped for war missions, he would not be a real leader, but a recognized leader in person by Ettore Troilo . Nicola Troilo wrote that the volunteers were not explained the practical and political motive for the tactical operations against the Germans, but it seemed that in each of the volunteers the burning desire for freedom, for revenge on the oppressors and for the defense of the territory, of the houses, the land and the families, even if it should cost your own life. The simple core consisted of about 100 men, divided into platoons of 25–30 units, subject to the military laws of the Supreme Allied Command. Operations began in January 1944 after the residents of Casoli had spent New Year's Eve with their military allies, this time in a more festive and vengeful climate.
In the referendum on the form of government of the future Italy on June 2, 1946, there were 3,119 votes for the monarchy and 1,169 votes for the republic (with 159 empty ballots and 342 votes against both forms of government). In the years 1953–1957, the Torre settlement was flooded with an artificial lake called Sant'Angelo to supply the city with electrical energy from hydropower, but also to later enable hiking tourism to change the normally harsh climate and to make it milder in winter.
The creation of a small industrial area along the Piano La Selva district ensured that Casoli benefited from the secondary industry, as it is also very close to the Honda Sevel industrial area in Val di Sangro and a commercial hub for Fara San Martino (with the bakery factory De Cecco ), the road from Fondovalle Sangro towards Chieti , which is the only road through Guardiagrele and the provincial road to Caprafico .
On April 25, 2018, President Sergio Mattarella visited Casoli, although President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (refugee in Taranta Peligna during the war and also in Scanno ) has been a guest several times in the past . On this occasion, a great commemoration of the actions of the Brigata Maiella was organized, the Piazza della Memoria was inaugurated in Via Aventina to commemorate the Jewish prisoners in the Casoli internment camp, and a plaque was placed on the building of the former cinema on Corso Umberto I attached.
description
The original core of the castle is a pentagonal tower. Today the castle extends around a central square, the most important element of which is the inner courtyard.
Tower and outbuildings
The tower is the oldest part. It has a pentagonal floor plan and is decorated with openings and a wreath of consoles on top . It can be reached via the entrance to the castle.
The outbuildings of the castle have an irregular rectangular floor plan and show traces of bastions . During the period when the castle belonged to the Masciantonio family, the front part of the palace, which contains the actual living area, developed a distributive function. There, both the division of the floors and the layout of the area were changed. The entire structure was subjected to a transformation of the wooden truss roof with increase of the eaves at this time, the more the appearance gave it a noble palace as a defensive structure, topped by a continuous projecting ledge consisting of successive overhanging brick rows , the arches bear. Further interventions concern the change of the original internal staircase with the construction of today's vertical marble connecting ramp , as well as the entrance from the outside into the building through a pointed arch portal in the immediate vicinity of the tower. A side entrance to the palace leads through a small portal with a vaulted arch in ashlar , which can be found on the south-west facade and which provides direct access to the open space that served as an oil mill .
inside rooms
In front of the interior there is a courtyard with a fountain in the middle. Access is via two entrances into a large reception room, which today has been preserved in the 17th century style (and serves as a museum room); the second entrance leads to the rooms of the castle. Below is the room in which Gabriele D'Annunzio lived and on the walls of which he wrote the famous sentence “Patience is the immortal Nepenthes , which strengthens the nerves and refreshes the soul!” It gets over Critical voices reported about the restoration of the rooms, which lost the original style due to the modern flooring.
- Cloister with cistern
- Directly behind the entrance is the cloister with a round cistern, which has an irregular floor plan. There you will find farm utensils such as sharpening irons.
- Wigram room
- The first room has a rectangular floor plan and a weathered wooden ceiling; it serves as a museum of the Second World War in Casoli, a connecting point on the Gustav Line . It describes the phases of the battle from November 1943, as well as some key figures in the battle, such as Ettore Troilo . Instead, the first room is now used as the Sala del Gusto ; The English commando had settled there in the winter of 1943, and on December 5, 1943, a meeting with the lawyer Ettore Troilo took place here. The meeting served as the basis for the formation of the Brigata Maiella .
- Pascal room
- Extended by Pasquale Masciantonio as a ceremonial room , it now serves as a museum dedicated to the last important owner of the castle.
- Mar stables
- In the past, you entered the castle through a now walled-up door, which was next to the tower. The stables have a square floor plan and a vaulted ceiling.
- Norman tower
- It can be reached from the second building of the castle via an original, steep staircase and then inside via a spiral staircase. The interior of the tower has been restored with white plaster. Outside, the tower allows a 360 ° panoramic view of the Majella , the mountains of Altino and Palombaro , the wasteland and the industrial area of Atessa . The historic center of Casoli can be completely overlooked , including the bell tower of the neighboring church of Santa Maria Maggiore .
- Room of rest and little room by D'Annunzio
- The hall can be reached from the second volume of the building by climbing a renaissance staircase that was built when the castle was converted into an aristocratic palace. The great room houses a collection of the original correspondence from Gabriele D'Annunzio , which he also signed “Ariel”, and from Pasquale Masciantonio , whom the poet called “Pascal”. The hall was also once used for a cultural group with people such as Francesco Paolo Michetti and Francesco Paolo Tosti , Constantina Barbella, Edoardo Scarfoglio and others; their portraits are on the painting opposite the correspondence, along with brief biographies. The room also contains the original bust of Masciantonio from the time he was elected MP.
The empty space, divided into two rooms: the studio and the bedroom, very small but adequately equipped, were divided by a partition with a wide, round opening. D'Annunzio used to live there. The original furniture was lost after the family sold the castle to the municipality (the desk was preserved, restored and placed in the council chamber of the town hall). The walls of the halls are filled with quotes from poets of the past such as Goethe , Oscar Wilde or Leonardo da Vinci ; some of the scripts are also from D'Annzunzio, along with the famous dithyramb in the middle.
- Kitchens
- Today's kitchen and dining room, where the crusher once stood, are the outermost point of the second area of the castle. With the restoration, they were dedicated to the ceremonies, but a historic wood fireplace with original stove utensils has been preserved. Because of the sensitivity of the smoke-blackened wood, it was not restored.
The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore
The Orsinis had the church built as a chapel in the 15th century , which was directly attached to the castle. In the 17th century it was expanded and became a parish church. It has a rectangular floor plan and is a hall church with a strong bell tower with a rectangular floor plan. The vestibule that connects the left nave with the castle has cross vaults .
There is an outside staircase in front of the entrance. The facade is divided into three parts; the central part is higher than the outer parts and separated from them by two pairs of pilasters on foundations, which in turn support the entablature on which the tympanum is located. A smaller tympanum sits above the portal, above which a window in the form of a lunette is installed. Another two windows are in the two side panels. The facade is plastered with the exception of the lower part.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Casoli - Castello Masciantonio . Mondi Medievali. 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
- ^ Nicola Troilo: Storia della brigata Maiella. 1943-1945 . Mursia. P. 17.
- ^ Nicola Troilo: Storia della brigata Maiella. 1943-1945 . Mursia. P. 19.
- ^ Nicola Troilo: Storia della brigata Maiella. 1943-1945 . Mursia. P. 23.
- ^ Guida ai castelli dell'Abruzzo . Carsa, Pescara 2000. ISBN 88-85854-87-7 . P. 147: Casoli (CH) - Il castello .
swell
- Storia di Casoli . Volume III. Casoli 2014. pp. 9-13.
Web links
- Il centro storico . Comune di Casoli. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- La torre altomedievale . Comune di Casoli. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- Il castello . Comune di Casoli. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2020.