The Castle of Barisciano (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Castello di Barisciano'') is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

castle in

Barisciano Barisciano ( Abruzzese: '; la, Furfo), is a comune and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy. It is located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. Main sights * Castle *Monastery of San Colombo. Tod ...

province of L'Aquila The Province of L'Aquila ( it, Provincia dell'Aquila) is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated province of the Abruzzo region of Central Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part o ...

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, southern Italy.

History

Placed at 1500 m on the Selva mountain to protect the village of Barisciano, the castle was built around the 8th century in a strategic position on the plateau of

Navelli Navelli is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is renowned for the local saffron production. Navelli and its ''frazione'' (hamlet) Civitaretenga are medieval villages located in a territory ...

and on access to the

Gran Sasso d'Italia Gran Sasso d'Italia (; ) is a massif in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Its highest peak, Corno Grande (2,912 metres), is the highest mountain in the Apennines, and the second-highest mountain in Italy outside the Alps. The mountain lies wit ...

. In the 13th century it was enlarged as an

enclosure castle An enclosure castle is a fortified residence or stronghold, in which defence is facilitated by walls and towers. Such fortifications were usually composed of wood or stone, but there are later examples built of brick. Features In enclosure castl ...

into accommodate the population in case of danger. The castle took part in the founding of the city of

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

and it was attacked and destroyed by the condottiero

Braccio da Montone {{Infobox noble, type , name = Braccio da Montone , title = Prince of Capua , image = Braccio da Montone.jpg , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = Prince of Capua , reign = {{nowrap, July 1421 – 5 June 1424 , predecessor = R ...

on 23 April 1424 during the siege of that city. It was still included as part of L'Aquila until 1529, when it became a fief of aristocratic families. Around the 16th century, it lost its defensive role and was abandoned. In memory of the epidemic occurred in 1526, the church of

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

was built close to one of the castle's towers and it houses a wooden statue of the saint and some frescoes.

Architecture

The castle enclosure has a rectangular shape with a perimeter of about a kilometer. The main pentagonal tower was placed in the top apex and other towers were placed along the curtain wall, for a total of eight towers. Inside the walls there are remains of other buildings even if, like the castle, they were not permanently inhabited.

References

External links

* {{dead link, date=July 2017 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes

Barisciano