The Castello di Lunghezza is a medieval fortification that is located around twenty kilometers from the city of Rome. The castle is located in the province of Rome and according to various historians, it is located at the site of the ancient city of Colliata.

History of the Castle
It is not known exactly when the castle had been built but according to scholars, the oldest manor in the location had been built in the year 752 AD when a fortified monastery had been built by the Benedictine monks for their accommodation. The area was ruled by the Poli family for many years until 1242 . It was then that they sided with the Colonna family, their alliance with the church had ended. Pope Boniface VIII soon joined this dispute along with Raimondo Orsini. In the year 1303 things went from bad to worse and along with the Orsini family, the Pope drove the Poli family out of the territory.
The Castle Today
Over the centuries, the castle had suffered slow and steady deterioration but when Malcolm Munthe purchased the castle he restored it perfectly and opened it up to the public. In the 1990s, the castle had received Charles of England for his holiday and over the years the importance of castle has again gone up. Today, the castle is home to many important cultural events, especially for children. The castle had been recognized as a national monument and provides several private and public entertainment options to visitors today.
Today it holds several temporary exhibitions, concerts, entertainment programs and theatrical performances of great cultural value. The castle is also open for private occasions like meetings, business lunch, weddings, dinner etc for those who want to plan for an important event in a historical and atmospheric location. Several and opened it up to the public especially for private events. During the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak, several cultural performances and programs are held for which the tickets are sold weeks in advance due to the hordes of tourists that visit the castle from Rome.

Castello di Lunghezza is a favorite day trip from Rome due to its proximity to the city as well as its historical importance.

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Castello di Lunghezza 

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Rocca Pia is an ancient castle located in the historic city of Tivoli. The castle replaced the earlier Callisto II Borgia and derives its name from Pio II Piccolomini, the Humanist Pope who had ordered that the castle be built in Tivoli. Niccolo and Varrone were the two architects entrusted with the construction of the castle. The castle took one year to build and its main purpose was to control the city and to prevent any future revolts or violence.

History

The castle was built at the end of the medieval and communal era of Tivoli. Several changes were made to the city in order to make way for the new castle. The Roman amphitheater was leveled out and medieval walls with a door were constructed in the northern part of the city in order to defend it from invasions.
During the 18th century, the castle was occupied by Austrian and the French troops. During those years a few changes were made to the original structure in order to use it as barracks and prison. During the time of Napoleon the castle underwent changes as well, in order to facilitate its use as a prison. A factory had been added close to the northern walls. Till 1960, Rocca Pia continued to be used as a prison after which it was returned to the municipality. Tivoli then got the castle restored to its original glory.

After the construction of the Rocca Pia in Tivoli began the age of several castles and villas in Tivoli, for which the city is internationally renowned today.
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Rocca Pia

The Tomb of Caecilia Metella (Italian: Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella) is a mausoleum located just outside Rome at the three mile marker of the Via Appia. It was built during the 1st century BC to honor Caecilia Metella who was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus, a consul in 69 BC, and wife of Marcus Licinius Crassus (quaestor), son of the famous Marcus Crassus who served under Julius Caesar.

The Tomb of Caecilia is one of the most well known and well preserved monuments along the Via Appia and a popular tourist site. In 2013, the museum circuit of the Baths of Caracalla, Villa of the Quintilii, and the Tomb of Caecilia Metella was the twenty-second most visited site in Italy, with 245,613 visitors and a total gross income of €883,344
Description
Located on top of a hill along the Via Appia, the Tomb of Caecilia Metella consists of a cylindrical drum, or rotunda, atop a square podium with the Caetani Castle (Castrum) attached at the rear. The square podium stands at 8.3 meters tall with the cylindrical drum standing at 12 m. The monument in totality stands at a height of 21.7 meters tall. The diameter of the circular drum is 29.5 m, equivalent to 100 Roman feet.

On the outside of the monument, an inscription can be seen reading "CAECILIAE |Q·CRETICI·F | METELLAE·CRASSI[3]" indicating to whom this tomb was dedicated. Further up the monument, decorations can be seen depicting festoons and bucrania, heads of bulls, which were the inspiration for the area being named Capo Di Bove, meaning head of the bovine. At the top of the monument, medieval battlements can be seen from the time when the tomb was used as a fortress.

At the rear, the Caetani Castle is attached to the tomb. The castle originally was three levels: ground level, first level, and second level. It is unknown what the second level was used for but the first floor was used for the elite gentlemen as evidenced by fireplaces and refined goods. The castle is now used to display various decorations from the monument.

Tomb of Caecilia Metella

Il cosiddetto Tempio di Ercole indicato da Marziale è in realtà un'area archeologica risalente alla civiltà romana situata nel Parco regionale dell'Appia antica all'VIII miglio della via Appia a pochi kilometri dalla Stazione di Santa Maria delle Mole.
Descrizione e storia
Il poeta latino Marziale nei suoi versi parla di un tempio di Ercole fatto erigere dall’imperatore Domiziano all'ottavo miglio della via Appia e anche di una statua di Ercole con le sembianze dell'imperatore stesso. Per molto tempo si è ritenuto di poter identificare il tempio citato con imponenti resti di colonne di peperino di tipo tuscanico che, allontanandosi da Roma, si incontrano in un sito sul lato destro della via Appia proprio nei pressi dell'ottavo miglio. Ad essi si riferiva probabilmente Charles Dickens nel 1846 quando visitando Roma e percorrendo la via Appia antica, scriveva di templi in frantumi e di Un deserto di disfatta antichità inenarrabilmente squallido e malinconico, con una storia in ogni pietra che ingombra il terreno. Studi recenti non hanno però confermato questa identificazione. I resti infatti indicano che le colonne formavano un quadrato (quadriportico) con cinque elementi per lato costituenti un edificio di età tardo repubblicana che molto probabilmente serviva come area di sosta per i viandanti. La struttura comprendeva quindici ambienti disposti su tre lati, adibiti ad una funzione commerciale e produttiva. All'ingresso è stato rinvenuto un altare dedicata al dio Silvano, una divinità rustica il cui culto era spesso associato a quello di Ercole. Queste risultanze hanno fatto sì che gli archeologhi si siano messi alla ricerca, nell'area circostante, del tempio di cui parlava Marziale . Ufficialmente questo risulta non ancora rintracciato. L'archeologo Marco Bellitto, studioso locale, sembra comunque avere delle idee chiare sulla sua effettiva localizzazione.

Tempio di Ercole (Appia)

Il castello di Tor Crescenza, o anche castello della Crescenza, è situato a Roma nella zona Grottarossa.

Storia
Nel secolo XI sulla via Flaminia la Crescenza era una torre posta a guardia della campagna romana, con la funzione presumibilmente di inviare notizie alle altre torri vicine.

Nel corso dei secoli XII e XIII accanto alla torre di tufo vengono eretti altri edifici di varia altezza, tra loro collegati, che cominciano a definire una struttura complessa a pianta irregolare per la cui completezza si dovrà attendere il secolo XVI, quando assumerà i connotati tipici del castello rinascimentale mantenuti fino ad oggi.

Due importanti torri merlate a pianta quadrata incastonano la facciata principale, collegata all'esterno da un ponticello in muratura, sostituto del ponte levatoio di memoria medievale, che consentiva l'attraversamento del fossato, oggi riempito, permettendo l'accesso all'interno della robusta fortificazione attraverso il centrale ingresso ad arco a tutto sesto.

Le caratteristiche tipiche dell'architettura militare non corrispondono alle funzioni a cui era deputata la struttura, che nella "Mappa sulla campagna romana", trattazione del 1547 di Eufrosino della Volpaia, viene definita “tenuta con la Torre dei Crescenzi che lo usavano come villa di campagna a integrazione di quella di città”.

Nel 1692 nella sua "Topografia geometrica dell’Agro Romano" Giovanni Battista Cingolani contrassegna la tenuta con il nome "Crefcentia" e nel 1704 Domenico De Rossi nella sua "Rubrica delle tenute e casali", appendice della carta cingolana, definisce la struttura come casale della tenuta.

Curiosità
Il Castello di Torcrescenza ha ospitato nel 2005 il ricevimento di nozze di Francesco Totti e Ilary Blasi e nel 2015 la festa per i 40 anni di Francesco Totti.

Gli esterni del castello sono presenti nel film 2061 - Un anno eccezionale, dove rappresentano la residenza fiorentina del principe Cosimetto Delli Cecchi interpretato da Massimo Ceccherini.

Nel 2019 ospita il set televisivo della trasmissione di Maria De Filippi Speciale Uomini e donne - La scelta.

A maggio 2019 sono iniziate le riprese del nuovo film di Antonio Albanese "Cetto c'è". Sempre nel mese di Maggio 2019 vengono effettuate le riprese di una puntata della seconda stagione di Baby (serie televisiva in onda su Netflix).

Castello di Torcrescenza

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (Italian pronunciation: English: Castle of the Holy Angel), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. The structure was once the tallest building in Rome.
The tomb of the Roman emperor Hadrian, also called Hadrian's mole, was erected on the right bank of the Tiber, between AD 134 and 139. Originally the mausoleum was a decorated cylinder, with a garden top and golden quadriga. Hadrian's ashes were placed here a year after his death in Baiae in 138, together with those of his wife Sabina, and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, who died in 138. Following this, the remains of succeeding emperors were also placed here, the last recorded deposition being Caracalla in 217. The urns containing these ashes were probably placed in what is now known as the Treasury room deep within the building. Hadrian also built the Pons Aelius facing straight onto the mausoleum – it still provides a scenic approach from the center of Rome and the left bank of the Tiber, and is renowned for the Baroque additions of statues of angels holding aloft instruments of the Passion of Christ.
Decline
Much of the tomb contents and decorations have been lost since the building's conversion to a military fortress in 401 and its subsequent inclusion in the Aurelian Walls by Flavius Honorius Augustus. The urns and ashes were scattered by Visigoth looters during Alaric's sacking of Rome in 410, and the original decorative bronze and stone statuary were thrown down upon the attacking Goths when they besieged Rome in 537, as recounted by Procopius. An unusual survivor, however, is the capstone of a funerary urn (probably that of Hadrian), which made its way to Saint Peter's Basilica, covered the tomb of Otto II and later was incorporated into a massive Renaissance baptistery. The use of spolia from the tomb in the post-Roman period was noted in the 16th century – Giorgio Vasari writes:

...in order to build churches for the use of the Christians, not only were the most honoured temples of the idols [pagan Roman gods] destroyed, but in order to ennoble and decorate Saint Peter's with more ornaments than it then possessed, they took away the stone columns from the tomb of Hadrian, now the castle of Sant'Angelo, as well as many other things which we now see in ruins.

Legend holds that the Archangel Michael appeared atop the mausoleum, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590, thus lending the castle its present name. A less charitable yet more apt elaboration of the legend, given the militant disposition of this archangel, was heard by the 15th-century traveler who saw an angel statue on the castle roof. He recounts that during a prolonged season of the plague, Pope Gregory I heard that the populace, even Christians, had begun revering a pagan idol at the church of Santa Agata in Suburra. A vision urged the pope to lead a procession to the church. Upon arriving, the idol miraculously fell apart with a clap of thunder. Returning to St Peter's by the Aelian Bridge, the pope had another vision of an angel atop the castle, wiping the blood from his sword on his mantle, and then sheathing it. While the pope interpreted this as a sign that God was appeased, this did not prevent Gregory from destroying more sites of pagan worship in Rome.

Castel Sant'Angelo

 Castle Orsini-Cesi-Borghese is located in San Polo dei Cavalieri in the province of Rome.The first news of the castle date from the second half of the tenth century when it is mentioned as the land belonging to a place unidentified small church of San Paolo (now destroyed), which for various misspellings dialect, over the centuries it became San Polo (from which, perhaps the name of the village), located in the area. At first it was the Knights belonging to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, then to the Roman monastery of St. Paul Outside the Walls, but only in the twelfth century is referred to a Castrum Sancti Pauli. In this period the castle was simply a stronghold in the shelter of a small bell. The Castrum was a focal point and intersection between the Sabina and the Aniene Valley, in fact, around the eleventh century castle was the dispute of the feudal lords of Marcellina, Montecelio, Palombara Sabina, Tivoli and the abbey of San Paul outside the walls. By Pope, in the 2nd half of '300, the castrum was leased to the Orsini, who bought it in the fifteenth century and turned it into a military stronghold. By a statute of the Orsini of 1479 it shows that the castle was contracted out to a temporary boarding. In 1558 they sold it to the Orsini Cesi castle which turned it into a summer residence frequented by aristocrats. In 1603 it was transformed by Cesi in the Accademia dei Lincei, which was founded by Federico Cesi, who hosted the castle Galileo Galilei. After the plague of 1656 the castle passed to the Borghese becoming part of the Papal States but then became autonomous with the unification of Italy. In the eighteenth century it was sold to a certain Peter Trusiani, but returned as a property of the Borghese in the early twentieth century, but in 1946 the court of Rome was auctioned and was bought by Dr. Chiappini who in 1958 sold it to the architect Luca Brasini which it began the restoration which was later completed by Andrea Berardi jurist. After countless sales and disposals is private property now.

Castle Orsini-Cesi-Borghese

Castello Savelli Torlonia is situated at the highest point in the town of Palombara Sabina in the province of Rome, and beautiful views of the Prenestini Mountains and Monte Soratte can be seen from its high position. The town was connected in ancient days to Via Tiburtina, Via Salaria and Rome. Today, the castle is owned by the Palambara Sabina municipality and holds of a total of 132 rooms. The castle is spread over an area of 10,000 sq meters. 
The town of Palombara runs a museum and a small library dedicated to the castle, and several conferences and academic studies are hosted there throughout the year. From the day construction of the castle was finished, it has always been an important part of the town.
History
First reference to the castle in Palombara Sabina was made in 1064 when a document was filed which mentioned the it. The original structure was built by Ottaviani, which at the time was a branch of Crescenzi, and was designed as a square castle, spread over an area of around one hectare. Count Octavian later signed an act of restitution in 1111 for the abbot St. John, then over the years several changes were done to the castle’s original structure. While originally built only as a watchtower and simple defensive structure, between the 13th and the 14th Centuries, it was significantly extended and altered. Later, in the last half of the 15th Century, the wall reliefs inside the castle also underwent several drastic changes.

 

In 1250 the original family who had owned the castle surrendered to Luca Savellim, and ownership was given to Luca, who was the nephew of Pope Honorius III. Later, Pope Honorius IV, the castle’s successor, left the castle in his will to the family of Savelli. In 1310, it was the seat for a tribunal during the trial of the Templars, quite an important era in the history of the castle, and in 1455, Castello Savelli Torlonia was the location where Giacomo Savelli’s son was murdered for revenge by Suou Vassals, since they had been exiled by the family.

 

Over the years the castle was also the cause of rivalry and dispute between many different Italian families. In 1498, when Charles VIII was in Italy, it was the cause of a dispute between the Savelli Family and an alliance between the Orsini and Colonna families. The Savelli were forced to burn the town of Palombara in order to save it from falling to the Orsini, and in turn forced Pope Alexander VI to resolve the situation. The Pope favored Orsini, and Palombara subsequently declined and fell to its enemies, and in 1504, the Savelli family fled the town. Then in 1508, the Borgais, Pope Julius II’s family, returned to the town.

 

In later years the castle was rebuilt by Troilo Savelli. During this renovation process, the structure was strengthened and all the frescoes in the rooms and inside the chapel were made, but in 1532 he had to flee the Pope’s wrath for wounding a man in Rome, and left the town and the castle. In1602, the castle belonged to Virgina Savelli, the wife of Duke Piero Farnese, who founded the beautiful Santa Maria of the Seven Sorrows monastery.

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Castello Savelli Torlonia

Il castello della Cecchignola è un complesso di diverse epoche, sede di alcune fondazioni culturali, di una biblioteca specializzata nell'arte e materiali lapidei, e dell'Università dei marmorari, situato a Roma nel quartiere Giuliano-Dalmata.
La torre maggiore, parte principale del complesso, è conservata per due terzi dell'altezza originaria e, oltre alla base romana, presenta ancora segni riconoscibili di tecniche architettoniche del XIII, del XVIII e del XIX secolo.
Periodo romano
L'area limitrofa al castello, che in età romana era fuori dalla cerchia delle mura, doveva essere luogo di villeggiatura per i patrizi romani. Nel 1939 si scoprì, infatti, una domus risalente all'età repubblicana (II-I secolo a.C.). In tale abitazione si ritrovò, sempre nello stesso anno, un emblema musivo che ancora oggi si trova nel Museo nazionale romano di palazzo Massimo.
La presenza romana è visibile anche alla base della torre principale e nelle mura, nelle quali sono inglobate parti di diversi edifici e strutture romane, come basoli di antiche strade, probabilmente reperiti nella vicina via Ardeatina antica.

Età medievale ed età moderna
Le prime testimonianze indirette scritte dell'esistenza del Castello risalgono al 1217, quando papa Onorio III in una bolla papale, riferendosi alle tenute dei monaci di sant'Alessio di Roma, disse: duas pedicas terrae in Piliotti, vel Cicomola indicando con quest'ultima "la Cecchignola".
Nel 1458 la proprietà fu venduta dalla famiglia Capizucchi al cardinal Basilio Bessarione. Dopo vari affitti, nel 1467 andò in eredità alla cappella di sant'Eugenia nella basilica dei Santi Dodici Apostoli di Roma, che, a sua volta, la rivendette nel 1477 a Pietro Margani.

Nel testamento del cardinale la tenuta è citata come Cecchignola nova extra portam. Monsignor Nicola Maria Nicolai nelle sue Memorie, leggi e osservazioni sulle campagne e sull'annona di Roma citerà come nuova la tenuta di proprietà del Gran priorato di Roma del sovrano militare ordine di Malta, e come vecchia la tenuta della famiglia Cenci.
Dopo la proprietà dei Barberini e molte vicissitudini, la Cecchignola entrò a far parte dei possedimenti del cardinale Scipione Caffarelli-Borghese, nipote del regnante papa Paolo V. Il pontefice bonificò la zona e fece allestire un parco nel fosso della Cecchignola, tutto grazie a maestranze tra il 1618 e il 1619. Negli ultimi anni del XVII secolo la Cecchignola fu di proprietà della famiglia Pamphili, come tra l'altro conferma la notizia del 1695 secondo cui il cardinale Pamphilj avrebbe qui offerto un pranzo ai cardinali romani. Dopo essere passata di proprietà del Priorato di Roma nel 1770, papa Leone XII fece acquisire la tenuta dal Vaticano.

Castello della Cecchignola

In the past, when popes wanted to escape the stifling summer heat in Rome, one of their preferred destinations was Castello della Magliana. Located near the Tiber in the old Magliano area outside Rome, the castle is first found in written history when mentioned in an 11th century document as being in the possession of the Santa Cecilia Monastery in Trastevere. The castle’s hey day was during the reign of Pope Leo X in the early 1500s. The pope, being an avid lover of art and hunting, often repaired to Castello della Magliana surrounded by artists and writers. The pope also added many beautiful frescoes, like those dedicated to Apollo and the Muses in the Salon of the Muses, that can now be found in the Museum of Rome in Palazzo Braschi. Today the ancient castle holds the offices of the nearby San Giovanni Battista hospital.

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Castello della Magliana 

The History
The late 1600s was an important time for both the castle and the town. When Cardinal Camillo Astalli fell out of favor with the church he moved to Sambuci and set about creating a beautiful town so as to increase his own prestige. To help welcome visiting Roman nobles and ambassadors in style, Astalli renovated the castle and added a loggia and forts, which opened up onto the estate’s park, to give the structure the air of a noble residence.

 
In the 18th century another garden was added to the castle. There were two parts of the new garden, an English-style romantic area with spontaneously growing greenery, and an Italian-style area with flowerbeds and terraces. The flowerbeds were designed so as to form the coat of arms of the Theodoli and Astalli families. During the French occupation the castle was sacked, but found itself back in the hands of the Theodolis in 1878. In the 19th century the garden would be enlarged once again.

During the Second World War the Germans used  Theodoli castle as one of their headquarters and it suffered serious damage. It was only in 1991, when the castle passed into the hands of the local government, that restoration on the monument began anew.


The Castle
The castle was modified several times over the centuries, but still maintains its medieval styling. It has angular towers and outside the fortress there are houses that once belonged to the castle’s workers, along with stables that held the owners’ horses. Following the Astalli years, the castle’s interiors were quite lavish and remain quite well preserved today.
The castle’s kitchens are located in the basement and the ground floor is where most of the daily work took place. The reception and private rooms of the owner were located on higher floors, with the second floor holding the guest rooms and the third floor containing the bathrooms.

Many of these rooms were decorated with entire cycles of beautiful frescoes with various literary, landscape, mythological and religious themes. The frescoes were done by Giovan Angelo Canini, a pupil of Domenichino, in the 17th century. There are delightful surprises to be found within the interior of the castle, like a gallery that opens up onto a false landscape and a bathroom decorated with biblical scenes. The room of the Cyclopes and the Jerusalem Delivered room are decorated based on the poem of Torquato Tasso and many of the rooms’ ceilings and beams were covered in pure gold gifted to Giovanni Theodoli by the Spanish monarchs in 1510. In the 17th century the wood parts of the ceiling were painted with scenes from the Card of the Sun by Mario de’Fiori.

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