The Castle of Fossa (

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 fi Fossa'') is a

Middle Ages 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

castle in

Fossa Fossa may refer to: Animals * Fossa (animal), the common name of a carnivoran mammal of genus ''Cryptoprocta'' endemic to Madagascar * ''Fossa'', the Latin genus name of the Malagasy civet, a related but smaller mammal endemic to Madagascar Pla ...

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 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

History

The castle of Fossa is the typical result of the phenomena of

encastellation Encastellation (sometimes castellation, which can also mean crenellation) is the process whereby the feudal kingdoms of Europe became dotted with castles, from which local lords could dominate the countryside of their fiefs and their neighbours', an ...

that occurred in medieval times. It is located in the highest part of the village, on the eastern side of the Circolo mountain. The original structure dates back to the early 12th century and was made by the

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

on the top and the fortified trapezoidal enclosure containing the first houses. The development of the village then took place outside the fence of the castle. This

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 ...

typology was quite common in the area, as seen with similar structures in

San Pio delle Camere San Pio delle Camere is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. Main sights * The medieval castle * Medieval borough of Castelnuovo * Parish church of San Pietro Celestino, dedicated to Pope Cel ...

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 ...

Bominaco Bominaco is a frazione of Caporciano in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy. Main sights * Castle of Bominaco The Castle of Bominaco (Italian: ''Castello di Bominaco'') is a medieval castle in Bominaco, Province ...

Architecture

The highest point of the castle consists of a circular tower, from which the walls depart delimiting the trapezoidal enclosure, surrounded by four square towers. The tower probably dates back to the 12th or 13th century, while the rest of the building probably dates to the late 13th or early 14th century. The height of the walls was between 8 and 10 meters, with a thickness of over a meter and a

chemin de ronde A ''chemin de ronde'' ( French, "round path"' or "patrol path"; ), also called an allure, alure or, more prosaically, a wall-walk, is a raised protected walkway behind a castle battlement. In early fortifications, high castle walls were difficu ...

to their summits. Two towers were located at the bottom corners of the fence and were also used as houses. Another tower is located on the north wall and the fourth one side is to the east, flanked to the southeast one. The main access to the enclosure is located on the north-east wall, and it consists of a door with a pointed arch in stone. A secondary entrance is near the southwest tower. The height of the main tower is 17 meters and its width diameter of 8 meters. It had no doors and it was accessed by a staircase that was stored inside of the building. A drawbridge connected the tower with the chemin de ronde on the walls.

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Fossa, Abruzzo