Castello di Gamberale (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

for ''Castle of Gamberale'') is a

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

castle in

Gamberale Gamberale is a village and ''comune'' in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The village is from Chieti, the provincial capital. It lies high in the Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or ...

Province of Chieti The province of Chieti (; Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: ') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Chieti, which has a population of 50,770 inhabitants. The province has a total popul ...

(

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

), Italy.

History

The castle was constructed around the 12th century along with a church dedicated to Saint Michael, which later incorporated the entire fortress. In the previous century, there was already a small

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

for observation, possibly

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

, which was expanded with the arrival of Neapolitan barons from Capua, who replaced the monks of Gamerrano. The castle passed through the hands of various barons: initially owned by Raimondo d'Annecchino, it belonged to Giovanni Maria d'Annecchino in the 16th century. It was then owned by Giovanni Crispano and sold to Baron Giuseppe Mellucci for 500 ducats. It later passed to the Marquis Odoardo Benedetti, a nobleman from the province of

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of the Province of L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region in Italy. , it has a population of 69,902. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the A ...

, and finally, on April 14, 1777, it came into the possession of the Mascitelli family from

Atessa Atessa (locally ''L'Atésse'') is a municipality in the province of Chieti, Abruzzo, south-eastern Italy. It is part of the Sangro, Val di Sangro mountain community. It is the largest municipality in the province by extension and eighth by populat ...

, who were the last feudal lords of the area. In the following centuries, the castle-fortress was used as a prison and a headquarters to dominate the valley. The church of Saint Michael was already in disrepair due to the damage from the 1706 earthquake, and the town was developing further down the valley, around the baronial casino Pollice and the church of Saint Lawrence, which was rebuilt in 1709. By the early 1900s, the castle had collapsed and was partially rebuilt to house a nursery by the National Fascist Institute. In 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was occupied by the retreating

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

moving towards

Castel di Sangro Castel di Sangro (locally ''Caštiéllë'') is a city and ''comune'' of 6,461 people (as of 2013) in the Province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo, central Italy. It is the main city of the Alto Sangro e Altopiano delle Cinque Miglia area. Geography Caste ...

along the

Gustav Line The Winter Line was a series of German and Italian military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring. The series of three lines was designed to defend a western section of ...

, becoming a strategic observation point over the Sangro valley. Due to Allied and German bombings, the structure was damaged, and the section overlooking the valley of

Sant'Angelo del Pesco Sant'Angelo del Pesco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Isernia in the Italian region Molise, located about northwest of Campobasso and about north of Isernia Isernia () is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region ...

collapsed. The subsequent 1984 earthquake caused the guard tower to collapse, which was reconstructed with modern elements, trying to replicate the original medieval appearance. An inscription on the main facade notes that the castle was restored in 1881 thanks to Pasquale Bucci. Further restorations followed the damage from World War II and the 1984 earthquake, giving the castle its current pseudo-medieval appearance.

Architecture

The castle has a central rectangular plan, with one side forming a semicircle, resembling an

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. The stone bastions have survived centuries of destruction, as have the massive columns of the portico on the facade and the pavement of the square in front. The windows are modern and rectangular in shape. The turret, opened with arched windows, is equipped with circular clocks and a radio antenna for the town. The external facades are plastered white, contrasting with the stone sections. The tower is topped with stone

battlements A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

. Inside, one of the rooms, possibly built on an older church, is used as a meeting hall for the municipality. The interior is adorned with monumental murals by contemporary artist Morena Antonucci.

References

Gamberale {{Italy-castle-stub