The castle of Arena was built by the Norman king Roger I the 11th century, to protect the pass of Berra and to defend the dominions on the Tyrrhenian side of the greenhouses against the risk of potential attacks from the eastern side, where Byzantines and Arabs had important positions.
The administrative and military control of the feud of Arena was entrusted to the Conclubet family, which for over 600 years was confirmed in power by the different dominations that succeeded one another in Calabria ultra, to which the Acquaviva dukes took over in the sixteenth century.
The ruins of the castle, substantially destroyed by the earthquake of 1783, preserve the Norman architectural structure, with large perimeter walls and the main building in the shape of a quadrilateral.
At the corners of the quadrilateral there are four partially preserved towers, belonging to different periods during which the castle underwent various technical – defensive adaptations.
Thus, in the Angevin age, the original quadrangular towers with smooth shoe of the Norman tradition, were replaced on the eastern side by high towers with a circular base and grooved shoe, the latter aimed at increasing the results of the so-called “plumbing defense” technique. increasing the range and lethality of the projectiles launched from the walls. Just the grooved shoe base is a constructive rarity since the typical Angevin tower had a smooth shoe.
On the western side, the Norman towers were modified only in the Aragonese period, when the development of artillery made it necessary to lower and strengthen them.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.