San Severino Castle

Mercato San Severino, Italy

The Castle of Mercato San Severino is the second-largest castle in Italy and was founded after 1067 by a Norman knight named Turgisio Sanseverino. The appearance of the castle today has been particularly influenced by the Angevin period. The settlement is marked by three walls: a first nucleus that includes the palatium and the so-called piazza d'armi (army square), and other rooms. The walls of the first enclosure continue south, surrounding a Franciscan convent, the village, and the corresponding church.

The second enclosure with its semicircular towers extends eastward, and it is connected to the last enclosure from the Angevin-Aragonese era, with a triangular perimeter that has a round tower at its vertex. The original size of the site was approximately 350 by 450 meters, with a total area of 157,500 square meters, equivalent to three football fields.

The third enclosure, at a lower elevation, extends eastward with a layout called 'a sperone,' and at its highest point, there is a round tower with three typical Angevin-era gun ports.

The castle was initially owned by the Sanseverino family but was eventually abandoned due to the involvement of one of its members in the Barons' Conspiracy against Ferrante. As a result, Ferrante confiscated the castle from its owners and only returned it after several years, by which time it had lost most of its military characteristics. The castle still partially preserves the chapel and the church. Saint Thomas himself visited this castle to visit his sister, Teodora, who was married to a Sanseverino. The future saint stayed at the Dominican convent. Coins, ceramics, arrowheads, and many other artifacts have been found inside the castle.

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Details

Founded: 11th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Italy

More Information

it.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.1/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Philippi Colombo (3 years ago)
Trail of difficult access, without any support for tourists.. but the view and the ruins make up for this negative point..
Mia Metzler (3 years ago)
Most places are closed with gates and access is prohibited. The visit is not worth it.
Federico Melella (3 years ago)
A magical place, rich in history, home to a medieval family that gave its name to the town below. It should be valued much more, starting with cleanliness, and cultural itineraries should be created to make it a point of attraction.
Christopher Radke (4 years ago)
Fun hike! Definitely choose your own adventure...
Lui Pet (5 years ago)
Poorly signposted, dirty and poorly enjoyable place in every respect. First of all, the path to get there is not very easy, because the earth is all dug up by wild animals and there is no indication of the correct path to follow if you don't know the area. If, on the other hand, one chooses to take the paved road for a healthy walk in nature, it is dotted with a series of rubbish dumps along the way which are anything but good for health and eyesight (if the intention is to admire the view). Luckily it wants to be a path suitable for (almost) everyone, and instead every time I go there I find only signs of incivility on the part of private individuals and inertia on the part of those who are responsible for maintaining, supervising, cleaning.
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The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.

The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.

The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.

The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.