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Rocca Calascio

★★★★☆

rocca calascio

Attribution: By Renano - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17990562

Location
Province of L'Aquila, Italy
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Built
10th century

Rocca Calascio is a mountaintop fortress or rocca at an elevation of 1,460 metres. It is the highest fortress in the Apennines.
Built of stone and masonry exclusively for military purposes and intended only to accommodate troops and never as residence for nobles, the fortress overlooks the Plain of Navelli at one of the highest points in the ancient Barony of Carapelle.
The fortress was never tested in battle. However, it was badly damaged in November 1461 by an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7 to 8 on the Richter Scale. While the town of Calascio, which lies below the fortress, was rebuilt, the fortress was not.

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Latest Castle Stories

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Separate myth from reality as we explore what medieval dungeons really were — how prisoners were held, punished, and remembered.

Why Heidelberg Castle Was Never Rebuilt — and Left a Ruin

How war, politics, and Romanticism turned a once-great palace into a preserved ruin.

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A look at daily life inside medieval castles, from noble privilege to the harsh realities of survival.


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