Roccacasale (locally ''La Rocca'') is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

Province of L'Aquila The province of L'Aquila () is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated Provinces of Italy, province of the Abruzzo region of Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It ...

in the

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 ...

region of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Built on the slopes of the Monte della Rocca in the central

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

, the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

overlooks the Peligna Valley and the town of

Sulmona Sulmona (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of L'Aquila, in the Italy, Italian region of Abruzzo. It is located in the Valle Peligna, a plain once occupied by a lake that disappeared in prehistoric times. In the ancient era, it was ...

. The village arose from a small settlement called Casali, which had few inhabitants prior to 925. As a result of the construction of the fortified '' rocca'', sited to control the entrance to the Valle del Sangro and the Cinquemiglia plain, from Saracen or Byzantine, the centre formed, with the passing of time, into a typical medieval walled village on the slopes directly under the castle. The higher part of the village consists of steep roads leading towards the castle, and linked by narrow passageways between buildings constructed on the naked bedrock. Inside the ancient village are the church of Saint Michael Archangel (consecrated in 1579) and the remains of the baronial ''

palazzo A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

'', constructed by the de Sanctis, barons of Roccacasale, next to the church more recently than the castle; very little remains of the ''palazzo'' today.

References

External links

Official website
{{Abruzzo-geo-stub