Castello di Gagliano Aterno, Medieval castle in Gagliano Aterno, Italy.
Castello di Gagliano Aterno is a castle from the 12th and 13th centuries featuring two concentric defensive rings with cylindrical corner towers and a residential palace arranged around an inner courtyard with a well. The inner zone is accessed by a drawbridge crossing a moat, leading to a courtyard surrounded by arcades with pointed arches.
The castle was founded between the late 12th and early 13th centuries by the Berardi family as a military fortification to defend the region. In 1328, Countess Isabella d'Aquino commissioned significant expansions and renovations to transform it into a more comfortable residence.
The castle shows in its architecture the shift from military stronghold to noble residence, visible in the enlarged windows and two-level loggia. Inhabitants used these spaces for daily life and received guests under the arcades surrounding the courtyard.
The courtyard and ground floor rooms are open to visitors, while the upper levels serve as private living spaces. The best time to visit is during the drier months when access to the interior is easier.
The inner area is reached by a functioning drawbridge that spans a preserved moat, showing a striking feature of this defensive structure. This mechanical device illustrates how seriously defense mechanisms were built into the original construction.
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