Castello di Casertavecchia: Medieval Fortress of Caserta
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- Kingdom of Sicily, Norman
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page12 sections
History
Castello di Casertavecchia is a medieval hilltop fortress in Italy, in the historic settlement of Casertavecchia, now a district of Caserta. It served as the settlement’s principal defensive stronghold, developing through Norman and Hohenstaufen phases before later decline, restoration, and archaeological investigation.
Norman origins and Hohenstaufen expansion
The earliest phase of the fortress remains uncertain. A castle and surrounding wall from the Lombard period have been proposed, but this interpretation has not been confirmed by excavation or structural study. The more widely accepted view places the first enclosure in the Norman period, probably as the Norman County of Caserta emerged around the transition from the eleventh to the twelfth century. The establishment of the diocese in 1113 formed part of the same developing political landscape.
The major enlargement belongs to the Hohenstaufen period. The Hohenstaufen, or Staufen, were a German imperial dynasty whose southern Italian territories included the Kingdom of Sicily during the thirteenth century. This construction phase probably followed 1246 and added towers at the centers of the eastern and western curtain walls, a bath and heating installation, a palace along the eastern wall, and the large circular keep.
The castle is explicitly mentioned in 1277, when the castle and its tower were treated as separate elements. A chapel dedicated to Saint John was recorded in 1300. By 1327, however, the will of Diego della Ratta described the fortress as largely ruined.
Restoration, decline, and changing ownership
A historical description of the site’s condition in 1528 referred to extensive apartments and large halls. These references indicate a substantial restoration between the late fifteenth century and the first two decades of the sixteenth century, directed by Count Andrea Matteo Acquaviva, husband and heir of Caterina della Ratta. Battlements still existed at the end of the sixteenth century and appeared in a drawing published by Pacichelli in 1703, but they were later removed.
Building stone was being removed without authorization before 1825. A protective measure accompanied the renewal of a lease under Ferdinand I of Bourbon. The fief had entered Bourbon possessions in 1750, while the later transfer of part of the complex to municipal ownership remains unexplained. A plan preserved in the Historical Archive of the Reggia records the enclosure, the cylindrical keep, and a chapel identified as Saint Andrew’s in 1825.
A memorial cross commemorating those killed in the Battle of the Volturno in October 1860 was recorded during the nineteenth century. The battle was a major engagement in the campaigns that led to Italian unification. In summer 1353, the nearby Torre della Lupara was the scene of Count Francesco I della Ratta’s victory over Gualtieri di Brienne, the sixth Duke of Athens, and Filippo I of Anjou, Prince of Taranto. The event is commemorated in the inscription on the count’s tomb in Casertavecchia Cathedral.
Modern recovery and archaeological research
After the 1980 earthquake, architect Rosa Carafa directed functional recovery and restoration, completed in 1989. The partly implemented work cleared the inner court, reconstructed the facade of the count’s palace, and restored sections of the building. An international youth-volunteer campaign in 1972 had already removed collapsed material and debris, although without scientific archaeological procedures. Similar nonscientific clearance took place during the restoration work of the 1980s.
Preliminary surveying and surface analysis took place in 2018 and 2019, followed by the first archaeological excavations in 2021. The Department of Letters and Cultural Heritage of the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli carried out the work under ministerial authorization and the scientific direction of Nicola Busino. The municipality of Caserta owns the enclosure, while the Italian Ministry of Culture owns the large keep. The complex is recognized as Italian national heritage.
Remains
The fortress occupies the northeastern edge of Casertavecchia, on the highest point of a small, relatively level hill. A deep valley descending from Monte Virgo protects the northern side and separates the site from the Baccalà Mountains. The western and southern sides are bordered by the slopes of the Caserta mountains. Built largely of rubble stone, the castle survives as a ruin organized around an irregular six-sided enclosure, curtain walls, towers, a residential palace, and the separate great keep.
Enclosure and residential buildings
Defensive enclosure
The enclosure is formed by masonry curtain walls, or defensive walls surrounding the complex, with towers that are partly open and partly closed. The exact number of towers remains uncertain. Modern interpretations identify four, five, or six, while Santoro’s description of the castle in 1528 counted ten. The fortress was the only surviving part of the town’s historically documented defensive walls that remained partly legible.
Count’s palace
Known as the count’s palace, the residential building adjoins and incorporates the northeastern side of the enclosure. Its historic apartments and halls belonged to the period of major restoration associated with Andrea Matteo Acquaviva. The facade was reconstructed during the post-earthquake work directed by Rosa Carafa, and parts of the palace were restored. Ceramic fragments recovered during the 1972 clearance are displayed in vitrines in the ground-floor hall.
Keep and service rooms
Great keep
The great keep stands southeast of the enclosure, close to the palace and outside the main circuit on a steep slope. Its ground plan is a sixteen-sided polygon, while its elevation is cylindrical. A curtain wall faces the settlement. The keep contains three enclosed levels, each made up of a single vaulted room, together with a roof terrace. The lowest level served as a cistern, a structure for collecting and storing water.
The level above the cistern was reached through an opening directed toward the count’s palace. A wooden connection, probably a drawbridge, once linked the two buildings. Stairs set within the keep’s thick masonry connect the lower interior with the second room, and another stairway leads from the second level to the roof terrace. The keep formed part of a wider defensive system, surveying the northwestern Campanian plain and the plateau of Casertavecchia.
Bath and heating rooms
In the wing extending from the keep toward the settlement, two exposed rooms have been identified as a heating room and a bath, or balneum. The heating installation supplied warmth to the bath complex. A similar wooden connection linked its upper rooms with the keep, relating the service area to the fortress’s principal tower.
Landscape defenses and archaeological evidence
The keep’s field of view formed part of the castle’s defensive network. It was visible from Castel Loriano at Marcianise and from Capua, while the Baccalà Mountains obstructed communication with Castel Morrone and limited control of the plateau leading toward the Volturno. The Torre della Lupara carried out that complementary defensive function.
The surrounding hills, which rise substantially higher than the castle, preserve traces or remains of fortification walls attributed to the Samnite period. The Samnites were an ancient Italic people who occupied parts of central and southern Italy before Roman domination. An ancient inscribed stone tablet was also seen and transcribed at the castle, although the transcription contained errors. The 1825 plan provides a further record of the enclosure, cylindrical keep, and chapel identified as Saint Andrew’s.
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