The Castello di Montecuccolo is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Pavullo nel Frignano Pavullo nel Frignano ( Frignanese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in the Modenese Apeninnes. It is home to the medieval Castle of Montecuccolo, birthplace of the 17th century condottiero Raimondo Mon ...

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

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 ...

Construction

The castle's primary tower was built in the 11th century as a

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

for the protection of the surrounding town. A defensive wooden

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

was constructed at its base. In the 12th century, an adjoining

fortified A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

house was built along with stone walls to replace the palisade. Over the course of the 13th and 14th centuries, new buildings were constructed and the walls were extended to encompass them, creating an enclosed

piazza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

. During the 15th and 16th centuries a church - the Church of San Lorenzo - was built enclosing a second, smaller, piazza at a lower level than the older castle buildings.

History

It was the birthplace of the 17th century

condottiero ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...

Raimondo Montecuccoli Raimondo Montecuccoli (; 21 February 1609 – 16 October 1680) was an Italian-born professional soldier, military theorist, and diplomat, who served the Habsburg monarchy. Experiencing the Thirty Years' War from scratch as a simple footsoldier ...

References

''Il Castello di Montecuccolo''

''Locanda del Condottiero''

''Visit Modena - Pavullo nel Frignano - Il castello di Montecuccolo''
{{coord, 44.3128, N, 10.8153, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:IT, display=title Castles in Emilia-Romagna

Construction

History

See also

References