Roccascalegna at sunset

Roccascalegna Castle is an architectural jewel of ancient and stunning beauty, a manor house that is part of the same village located in the Abruzzo hinterland, in the province of Chieti (Abruzzo, Italy). Situated on the hills surrounding the Sangro River and built on a strategic rocky spur, its foundation most likely dates back to 600 AD. At that time, Byzantine military forces established themselves on the shores of Abruzzo's Adriatic coast, leading to the construction of the Watchtower and then the Castle, all on a large mass of rocks and completely immersed in the nearby natural setting, overlooking the Rio Secco valley. Over the following centuries, following two likely restorations and other problems (among them abandonment and looting!), the castle was donated to the municipality of Roccascalegna by the Croce Nanni family in 1985; the municipality then restored it to its former splendor in the 1990s. The castle has been known to the general public since 1982, but even more recently since 2015, having been used as a location for several recent films, starting with Matteo Garrone's movie "Tale of Tales" (2015). In 2019, it was featured in the new Italian-German television adaptation of Umberto Eco's novel "The Name of the Rose," a project promoted by the Italian television network RAI. Today, the castle is a magnificent turistic attraction, well-known even beyond Abruzzo. As you can see in the photo, the castle is presented from its more hidden but equally evocative side, where the rock mass on which it was built allows you to admire the illuminated turret and some walls that tower atop the cliff, overlooking the sky and the surrounding natural valley. This particular sight first struck me and I wanted to bring to the viewer's attention a more enigmatic and evocative image of this marvelous place from another time, a splendid Abruzzese monument with a timeless and ancient charm that deserves more than one visit.