Now housing the Museum of the Samnium, Rocca dei Rettori fortress has origins dating back to prehistoric times, with a Samnite necropolis (7th-6th century BC) and Roman baths later built on-site. The Lombards fortified the area, adding the Big Tower (Torrione), and an 8th-century Benedictine monastery was later merged into a castle under Duke Arechis II. By 1321, Pope John XXII restored it as a papal residence, and in 1586, it became a prison until 1865.
Perched on Benevento’s highest point, the Rocca consists of two main structures. The Big Tower (Torrione) is a 28-meter Lombard-built tower, modified over centuries, featuring Roman wall fragments, ogival double windows, and turrets. The Palazzo dei Governatori Pontifici is a three-floor palace with barbicans, framed windows, a colonnade, and 18th-century wooden ceilings. The lowest floor housed prison cells, while the upper halls boast elaborate decorations.
The rear garden contains Roman ruins, including slabs from the Via Traiana. A 1640 Lion Monument honoring Pope Urban VIII stands at the entrance, featuring a medieval lion atop an octagonal Roman pedestal.
The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.
Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.