Castello Piccolomini (Balsorano)
| Castello Piccolomini | ||
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 View of the Castello Piccolomini |
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| Creation time : | around 1460 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | well preserved | |
| Construction: | Quarry stone | |
| Place: | Balsorano | |
| Geographical location | 41 ° 48 '2.1 " N , 13 ° 34' 26.2" E | |
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The Castello Piccolomini is a well-preserved hilltop castle in the Balsorano Vecchio district of the Italian municipality of Balsorano in the province of L'Aquila , which was declared a national monument in 1902 .
history
Balsorano Castle was built on the foundations of an older building for Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini , nephew of Pope Pius II and son-in-law of Ferrante Secondo , around 1460. Later he took over the baronate .
Subsequently, several generations of feudal rulers of Balsorano lived there, including Carlo Lefebvre , until the current owner, Fiastri Zannelli , took over the castle and converted it into a hotel and restaurant. Restoration work was carried out in the 1930s due to the damage caused by the Avezzano earthquake in 1915 , but original elements from the time of construction have still been preserved.
The castle served as a location for Italian films, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.
description
The floor plan is irregularly pentagonal and the building was built from quarry stone . The main entrance leads from the park in front of the castle into an L-shaped inner courtyard with a fountain. The surrounding buildings are characterized by double and triple windows. The architectural style corresponds partly to the Middle Ages , partly to the Renaissance .
building
The castle is shaped like an irregular pentagon. She sits on Monte Cornacchia on a rock spur towards the Valle Roveto . The main facade is the short side of a trapezoid. The sides show imposing bastions and are divided in height by cornices . The windows of the first sector are double windows, the others are simple windows. The roofs are covered with classic shingles and there was an imposing observation tower in the middle. The square-shaped tower collapsed during the Avezzano earthquake.
Towers
The towers are at the corners of the castle, but have a tripartite structure on the side facing Balsorano; there are five towers in total. Before the 1915 earthquake there were six.
The towers have a round plan and their walls are sloping; they have double windows and consoles under the roofs . On the overhanging side of the castle there are the two facade towers and another one on the left, which cannot be seen from Balsorano.
Entrance and garden
The entrance is in an enclosure wall in the restored part that surrounds the castle. You enter the actual castle through an arch: the gate is simple and above it is a window with a balcony for speeches.
The garden is connected to an internal vestibule that continues in a small square to the fountain. There are classic arches with stucco work and Gothic double windows. The enclosing wall served as protection, but today it is used by walkers for views.
inside rooms
The interiors have been preserved in the original, Gothic or Renaissance style. The smaller rooms are used as hotel rooms, while the large hall in the middle is used for parties and receptions.
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The latter is of particular interest as it is decorated with paintings from the 16th century and frescoes with coats of arms and blasons of the various castle owners of the Piccolomini family . Other pictorial works in this room show geometric figures typical of the Gothic period, such as battlements and towers.
A second large room is adorned with a small stone fireplace with yellow frescoes on the sides, with original war weapons hanging on it.
Chapel of the Piccolomini family
The Piccolominis Chapel has only one nave and is in the style of the 15th century. The frescoes show geometric figures, rhombuses and Christian crosses with a shade of lapis lazuli on ocher. The apse with altar is framed by three arched windows . The middle of it is walled up: the surrounding decorations show rays of sunshine and tongues of fire that wrap gilded roses. In the middle window are the holy words IHS .
The medieval district of Balsorano Vecchio
This part of the city was under the castle and little of it has survived after the Avezzano earthquake.
The original center is framed by a restored 16th century fountain dedicated to St. Martin . Next to the well there is a pillar of the destroyed Church of the Holy Trinity. On the other side there is still the arch of St. Martin.
Film location
In the 1960s and 1970s, a number of Giallo and horror films were shot in the castle , the best-known of which were A dead hanging on a bell rope , Il boia scarletto , Murderer without a face , Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento and La sanguisuga conduce la danza were.
Around the mid-1990s, the castle served as the “location” for a number of pornographic films directed by Joe D'Amato and Franco Lo Cascio , whose protagonist a. a. the porn actor was Rocco Sifredi .
The films shot in the castle were:
- A dead person hung on a bell rope (1964)
- Il boia scarlatto (1965)
- La settima tomba (1965)
- A ... come assassino (1966)
- 7 donne d'oro contro due 07 (1966)
- Le 7 cinesi d'oro (1967)
- Faceless Murderer (1968)
- Pensiero d'amore (1969)
- Lady Barbara (1970)
- Esotika Erotika Psicotika ( The Lickerish Quartet ) (1970)
- Lady Frankenstein (1971)
- La lunga ombra del lupo (1971)
- Metti lo diavolo tuo ne lo mio inferno (1972)
- ... e continuavano a mettere lo diavolo ne lo inferno (1973)
- Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento (1973)
- Il plenilunio delle vergini (1973)
- Farfallon (1974)
- La sanguisuga conduce la danza (1975)
- Il comune senso del pudore (1976)
- The Nun and the Beast (1977)
- Malabimba (1979)
- Erotic Flash (1981)
- C'è un fantasma nel mio letto (1981)
- Bollenti spiriti (1981)
- Il Marchese De Sade - Oltre ogni perversione (Marquis de Sade) (1994)
- Sexy caccia al tesoro (1994)
- Amleto - Per amore di Ophelia (Hamlet: For the Love of Ophelia) (1995)
- Il barone von Masoch (1995)
- Decameron X - Racconti arguti ... di mogli puttane e mariti cornuti (1995)
- Decameron X2 - Novelle maliziose (di bernarde assai vogliose) (Decameron Tales II) (1995)
Individual evidence
- ^ Castello Piccolomini . Abruzzo region. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ↑ Elenco degli edIERTi Monumentali in Italia . Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione. 1902. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ↑ Balsorano, quando al Castello arrivo Siffredi . Il Centro. September 12, 2003. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved on March 10, 2020.
- ^ Dizionario del turismo cinematografico . FilmTv.it. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
swell
- Marialuce Latini: Guide ai Castelli d'Abruzzo . Carsa Edizioni, Pexcara 2000. ISBN 88-85854-87-7 . Pp. 94-95: Il Castello Piccolomini - Balsorano (AQ) .
Web links
- Castello Piccolomini, Balsorano . Cultura Italia. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- Castello Piccolomini - Balsorano (AQ) . Abruzzo promozione turismo. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- Andrea Orlando: Castello Piccolomini di Balsorano . I castelli. Archived from the original on April 29, 2012. Retrieved on March 10, 2020.
- Balsorano - Castello Piccolomini . Mondi medievali. Retrieved March 10, 2020.