ヴィシャーノの洞窟・トップ6

Rough, steep roads up here

Beautiful castle of Avella, worth a visit.

The Castle of Monteforte was probably an ancient Roman castrum, on which a real castle was probably built by the Lombards in the 7th-8th century. But the history of Monteforte is very ancient: traces of its existence can be found already during the Second Punic War (fought between Rome and Carthage from 218 BC to 202 BC), when Annibale Barca passed through it on his way back from Capua towards Cannae, where he prepared the historic trap against the Romans. The first certain information we have about the village is contained in a document from 1102 preserved in the Montevergine Archives. In the Angevin period, it passed to the Princes of Montfort and Count Guido de Monfort lived there, who killed Prince Henry of England in 1271 in the cathedral of Viterbo. Having committed the crime, he was deprived of his possessions which passed to the Orsini family, whose lineage they remained in until 1806. The Castle was renovated and transformed into a summer residence by Charles of Anjou who lived there several times from 1271 to 1280. It was abandoned to itself from the 16th century; legend has it that who knows what treasures were buried in it, unfortunately this gave greedy hands the opportunity to complete its destruction.

The castle has an ancient and troubled history, about 1300 years long. In the 6th century the Longobards, coming from Benevento, settled in the area and less than a century later the castle was built, of which today only a few run-down ruins remain. As per practice in the Middle Ages, the first inhabited nucleus developed around the fortress, what is now known as Borgo San Matteo. In the following centuries the castle hosted King Manfredi of Swabia several times, who was buried there together with his son after having lost his life during the battle of Tagliacozzo. Later the castle passed into the hands of the Angevins and the County of Sarno ended up under the control of the Kingdom of Naples. In the 15th century, before passing to the Aragonese, the castle was occupied by the Orsini family, to whom we owe the building of the Bear Tower, still visible today. In these years the castle was the scene of the famous conspiracy of the barons and the Torre dell'Orso proved to be decisive for the fate of the battle of Sarno. The history of the Sarno fortress ends in the 17th century: in 1647 it was destroyed during the repressive actions against the revolts triggered by Masaniello. Also for this reason today the fortress is a set of almost unrecognizable ruins, which emerge scattered here and there in the mountain vegetation, where the central body of the castle is more intact and still viable, albeit with great attention and effort.

Ruins of the Castle of the hamlet of Mercogliano "Capocastello"

The Castle of Avella is a place of historical interest located in Via Campopiano. Also known as "Castello di San Michele", it was built by the Lombards in the seventh century. A.D. and boasts a strategic position: it dominates the access that connects Monteforte Irpino with the Sabato Valley and leads to Puglia and the Adriatic coast. The hill on which the Castle of Avella stands was also the scene of further and important archaeological finds: in fact, among its ruins, the famous "Cippus Abellanus", dating back to 150 BC, was found. approximately and currently kept at the Episcopal Seminary of Nola. It is an inscription in the Oscan language, bearing the agreement between Abella and Nola and concerning the land in the midst of which stood a common Temple of Heracles. The fortress of the Castle, which occupies the top of the hill, is dominated by the monumental cylindrical tower, typical of Angevin architecture, and by the two imposing structures of the donjon, a particular type of defensive tower. At the base of the fortress, two walls surround the slopes of the hill. Within this area, the remains of numerous environments referable to residential structures are visible; among these, the only building preserved on an elevated level is a large rectangular cistern. A fairytale destination silhouetted against unspoiled nature, the Castle of Avella is the emblem of the medieval past of the lower-country town.

The Castello village, the original nucleus of the Palmese community that developed on the top of the homonymous hill overlooking the town, https://www.buonapalmacampania.it/borgo-castello/

Panoramic point of the Castle of Monteforte Irpino