Castello di Moneta: A Medieval Fortified Stronghold near Carrara
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.2
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Byzantine
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page10 sections
History
Castello di Moneta is a historic fortified stronghold in Italy, near Carrara, whose origins reach back to a Roman colonial estate of Luni in the 2nd century BC. Known as fundum gentis Monetia, the site was transformed into a castrum, a fortified settlement or military stronghold, by the Byzantines during the 6th century. The medieval castle was constructed before the 11th century and later developed into both a fortress and a sizeable inhabited settlement.
Roman and Byzantine origins
Luni was an ancient Roman city and colony on the Ligurian coast. The estate associated with Moneta formed the earliest known phase of occupation on the hill. During the 6th century, Byzantine authorities adapted the location for defence, creating the fortified complex that shaped its later history.
The earliest surviving written evidence for Moneta is a contract dated 1035, preserved in the Codice Pelavicino. A second record appears in a contract drawn up by the notary Pellegrino in 1252. The first recorded owner of the Castrum de Moneta was Bondiero, who received it as a gift from the castaldo, a medieval steward, of the Bishop of Luni.
Medieval control and local functions
Ownership later passed to the Pisans and then to Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli, the 14th-century military ruler of Lucca whose power extended through Lucchesia and Lunigiana. Castruccio considered Moneta relatively unimportant and assigned it secondary functions, although the stronghold experienced a prosperous period. Relations with Ortonovo included disputes over pasture boundaries.
Moneta served more than a military purpose. Its inhabitants were chiefly engaged in agriculture and in collecting taxes from surrounding communities, especially Fontia. During wartime, the castle provided refuge for people from Fontia, Castelpoggio, Castellaro, and Castelbaito near Campocecina.
Visconti, Campofregoso, and Malaspina rule
After Castracani’s death, the people of Carrara submitted to Gian Galeazzo Visconti, a major ruler of the Visconti dynasty whose expansion brought several northern Italian and Tuscan strongholds under his control. In 1402, the condottiero Giovanni Colonna, a professional military commander serving under contract or political agreement, occupied Moneta and sold it to Paolo Guinigi. The Visconti later occupied the castle again.
A further contest developed between Spinetta di Campofregoso and Giacomo I Malaspina. Campofregoso prevailed and strengthened the stronghold between 1450 and 1460. He also installed a commemorative plaque recording the renovation, although the plaque has since disappeared.
The castle, Carrara, and other settlements later came under the Malaspina of Fosdinovo in exchange for agricultural lands in Lombardy. The Malaspina were a noble family that ruled territories in Lunigiana and neighbouring parts of northern Tuscany and Liguria. They sought to bring surrounding villages and family settlements, including Moneta, under their control.
Decline and modern ownership
Under Malaspina control, Moneta again enjoyed prosperity, but it no longer needed to perform major military functions. The strategic role of the castle ended in 1700. Abandonment of the settlements around the stronghold began between 1750 and 1850, as inhabitants moved to the plain near the nearby stream to cultivate the land more effectively and expand agriculture and charcoal production. The name Fossola arose on this plain, and the stream later became known as the Fossola Canal.
The name Moneta has been associated with Juno Moneta, an epithet of the Roman goddess Juno connected with the protection of the city. Other proposed explanations link it to the Roman families Monetii or Munatii, said to have owned the hill, or to Arx munita, meaning a fortified construction. The etymology remains uncertain.
The surviving stronghold is now owned by the Municipality of Carrara, which acquired it from the Dervillé family through a deed concluded in Paris, where the owners lived. Municipal ownership covers only the stronghold, approximately one-third of the former settlement. Other owners adapted their houses using building material taken from the Rocca, the Italian term for a fortified stronghold.
Remains
Castello di Moneta occupies a hill and originally consisted of a fortified settlement of considerable size. At least three curtain walls defended the Rocca and the inhabited nucleus. The surviving complex is now a ruin, although the perimeter structure of the central keep remains well preserved. The municipal property represents only about one-third of the former village, while the wider settlement survives partly through houses adapted with reused material from the fortress.
Central military enclosure
The cassero
The highest point of the hill contains the cassero, the strongest inner part of a medieval fortified complex. It has a quadrilateral plan and a substantial military arrangement. Its perimeter structure remains well preserved within the ruined castle, and internal walls clearly separated the central military area from the civilian settlement.
Moat and drawbridge
A broad moat divided the central military area from the inhabited settlement. Entry to the central section was protected by a drawbridge spanning the moat, reinforcing the separation between the keep and the residential part of Moneta.
Fortified settlement
The inhabited nucleus extended beyond the stronghold itself and was enclosed with the defensive walls that formed part of the wider castle layout. Its surviving houses belong to different ownerships, and some were adapted with building materials taken from the Rocca. This reuse links the present settlement to the earlier fortified complex while showing the reduced extent of the area held by the municipality.
