Hidden within uncontaminated woods, lit by the warm light of the Roman countryside,Torre in Pietra is a splendid architectural complex, an open book that tells of centuries of the history of ancient and noble families and famous artists, a truly special place where to hold weddings, events, gala evenings, concerts, meetings, exhibitions, or just go for a guided tour. Visitors to the castle will be struck by its imposing medieval structure, with walls, moat and defence tower, and the architectural beauty of the buildings within it, including the 17th century palace at the centre, and to the right a beautiful 17th century octagonal church the work of the celebrated architect Ferdinando Fuga. The garden, with at it centre an ancient fountain, is shaded by ancient pines and plane trees; lovely courtyards lead to the halls within. The ground floor hosts the vast 17th century Sala Peretti with vaulted ceiling and a splendid fireplace; above there is the main floor, or Noble floor as it is known in Italian, with its halls decorated with splendid and perfectly preserved 18th century frescos.

https://www.residenzedepoca.it

Castello di Torre In Pietra

Account

by category

Login

Name

by region

Title

Name in English

The Castle of Palo or the Castello di Palo is a medieval fort located in Palo in the Ladispoli municipality. The castle is today owned by the Odescalchi family. The castle stands overlooking the sea where in the ancient time the Etruscan town Alsuim had once stood. The castle had originally been built for defense and the manor is the only structure which is fortified along with the Flavia tower which had been built during the 16th century as a watchtower. The manor itself is imposing and large and still in good condition. A beautiful dense forest surrounds the castle in an area of around 140 hectares.

The History of the Castle
The castle dates back to the year 1500 when it was built on the site of an older medieval castle which had been called Palus because of the extensive swamps which was present in the surrounding areas. Several important people had stayed in the castle over the centuries like Flavio Orsini, Pope Sixtus V, Pope Paul III, Felice della Rovere Orsini, Pope Alexander VI and Francesco Orsini.

https://www.lifeinitaly.com

The Castle of Palo 

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.

https://www.lifeinitaly.com

Castello della Magliana 

Castello Orsini-Odescalchi is a castle in Bracciano, in the Province of Rome, Lazio, Italy. It is located on the southern shore of Lake Bracciano. It was built in the 15th century, and combines the functions of a military defence structure and a civilian residence of the feudal lords of the period, the Orsini and Borgia, both papal families. As one of the largest and best-maintained castles in Italy, it also houses a museum; as a centre of cultural events, the Castello has hosted several high-profile weddings like the ones of Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes, Eros Ramazzotti/ Michelle Hunziker, and Petra Ecclestone/James Stunt.
Geography
The well-preserved medieval castle Castello Orsini-Odescalchi is 3 km (alongside the road leading to Trevignano Romano) from the Bracciano town which is 30 km away from Rome. It is located on the southern shore of the volcanic lake (Lago di Bracciano or "Sabatino", the eighth largest lake in Italy). The railway Line FR3 connects it with Rome (stations of Ostiense and Valle Aurelia) in about 55 minutes. Close to it lie the two medieval towns of Anguillara Sabazia and Trevignano Romano.
The castle's earliest history is inferred to be linked to one of the numerous towers built in the tenth century as a defence against the Saracen attacks, as implied by the ancient name of Castrum Brachiani. In the eleventh century the neighbouring territory was acquired by the Prefetti di Vico family, who turned the tower into a castle. Ferdinand Gregorovius dated the possession of Bracciano by the Orsini to 1234. From 1375 it was a Papal possession.[2][4][5]

In 1419 the Colonna Pope Martin V confirmed the fiefdom of Bracciano in the Orsini family branch of Tagliacozzo. Under this powerful family Bracciano developed into a flourishing town, famous in the whole of Italy for its castle, which was enlarged, starting from 1470, by Napoleone Orsini and his son Virginio. In 1481 it was host to Pope Sixtus IV, who had fled from the plague in Rome; the Sala Papalina in one of the corner towers commemorates the event. Four years later, however, the city and the castle were ravaged by Papal troops under Prospero Colonna, and subsequently a new line of walls was built.[2][4][5]

The construction of the Orsini-Odescalchi Castle was started by Napoleon Orsini of the Orsini family in 1470. It was completed by his son Virginio Gentil, in 1485. Francesco di Giorgio Martini was the architect. Over the centuries of its existence the castle has been the venue of many a conflict between Colonna and Borgia noble families. In 1494 Charles VIII of France and his troops marching against Rome stopped at Bracciano. This act led to the excommunication of the Orsini. In 1496, the castle which was under the Orsini family who were politically well connected and prosperous, attracted the ire of Pope Alexander VI whose son Giovanni di Candia led a papal army and tried to capture it. However, the Orsinis successfully resisted the attack. Cesare Borgia, another of Alexander's natural sons, was unsuccessful in his attempt to take the Orsini stronghold a few years later. During this time the castle underwent modifications with many interior decorations created in the form of paintings and frescoes by Antoniazzo Romano, a Roman painter and sculptor of the 15th century. Pope Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere, had shifted from Rome to this castle during the plague epidemic. At this time, the rooms where the Pope stayed were decorated with frescoes by the Taddeo Zuccari and Federico Zuccari brothers.

Castello Orsini-Odescalchi

La Rocca di Ostia (o Castello di Giulio II) è una fortezza posta sul lato sud del borgo medievale di Ostia Antica.
Storia
L'opera fu fatta realizzare tra il 1483 e il 1486 dal cardinale Giuliano della Rovere, futuro (papa Giulio II), per controllare i propri possedimenti di famiglia e l'accesso a Roma dal mare lungo il Tevere, in funzione anti Borgia.

Il progetto è attribuito a Baccio Pontelli, anche se non mancano i dubbi. Vasari attribuisce l'opera a Giuliano da Sangallo. Altri storici fanno il nome di Francesco di Giorgio Martini per il progetto, mentre Pontelli potrebbe aver diretto i lavori. In effetti l'opera presenta numerosi elementi riferibili alle opere ed ai trattati del maestro senese, che Pontelli potrebbe aver conosciuto durante la frequentazione ad Urbino. Tuttavia la rocca presenta analogie anche con le fortificazioni progettate da Francione, maestro a Firenze di Pontelli.

La fortificazione si trovava tra il borgo murato medievale di Ostia Antica e il corso del Tevere, fino alla piena del 1557 che modificò in corso del fiume lasciando a secco il fossato. La fortezza fu a lungo caposaldo militare e dogana pontificia.

Caratteristiche
L'opera presenta criteri tecnici innovativi e conoscenze militari notevoli. La forma è triangolare, con torrioni sui vertici: due circolari ("rondelle") e uno poligonale di dimensioni maggiori, alti quanto le mura per creare un cammino di ronda unico su tutto il perimetro. Un ampio fossato, alimentato dal Tevere, correva in origine lungo il perimetro.

Le mura sono completamente in mattoni, secondo l'uso marchigiano, hanno un'altezza ridotta e sono molto spesse, con un'inclinazione a scarpa, per evitare l'impatto ortogonale dei proiettili. Le postazioni di artiglieria ("troniere") sono poste nella "gola" tra "rondelle" e "cortina" e vi sono aperture per le bocche da fuoco anche molto vicino al suolo, per tiri radenti e difesa incrociata. All'interno della fortezza un mastio circolare emerge a controllare il Tevere.

Tali caratteristiche ne fanno un episodio importante tra le rocche di transizione di fine XV secolo, verso l'affermarsi della fortificazione alla moderna.

Rocca di Ostia

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

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

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)

On the central west coast of Italy in the Lazio region, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome stands Castello di Santa Severa, a striking, ancient structure whose foundations are kissed by the warm Tyrrhenian Sea. Eye-catching and historic, the castle has always been a popular sight to behold, but now, visitors can actually stay inside it. As well as a new museum that comes complete with virtual reality tours, the castle now boasts a bright, modern hostel.
On the central west coast of Italy in the Lazio region, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome stands Castello di Santa Severa, a striking, ancient structure whose foundations are kissed by the warm Tyrrhenian Sea. Eye-catching and historic, the castle has always been a popular sight to behold, but now, visitors can actually stay inside it. As well as a new museum that comes complete with virtual reality tours, the castle now boasts a bright, modern hostel.
Castello di Santa Severa on the west coast of Italy.
Castello di Santa Severa on the central west coast of Italy. Image by Castello di Santa Severa
The first written documentation surrounding the site dates back to 1068, with the castle being built in the 14th century. Over the years, the structure has been owned by noble families, members of the Catholic church, and was even occupied by German military forces during WWII.
On the central west coast of Italy in the Lazio region, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome stands Castello di Santa Severa, a striking, ancient structure whose foundations are kissed by the warm Tyrrhenian Sea. Eye-catching and historic, the castle has always been a popular sight to behold, but now, visitors can actually stay inside it. As well as a new museum that comes complete with virtual reality tours, the castle now boasts a bright, modern hostel.
Castello di Santa Severa on the west coast of Italy.
Castello di Santa Severa on the central west coast of Italy. Image by Castello di Santa Severa
The first written documentation surrounding the site dates back to 1068, with the castle being built in the 14th century. Over the years, the structure has been owned by noble families, members of the Catholic church, and was even occupied by German military forces during WWII.

The site houses a few museums that offer insight into the past.
The site houses a number of museums that offer insight into the past. Image by Castello di Santa Severa
The castle was recently renovated and reopened by Regione Lazio, and now houses a hostel with bedrooms on the first floor, on the Piazza della Rocca, designed for young people and families, while the common room is in the Sala Legnaia on the ground floor. Guests can choose from a variety of rooms, including private and shared, with prices starting from €35 per night at low season.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com