Castello di Belmonte Calabro, building in Belmonte Calabro, Italy

Castello di Belmonte Calabro is a ruined castle on the hill above the town, in the province of Cosenza. The local historian Gabriele Turchi proposed a quadrilateral plan with four corner towers around a central courtyard, the piazza d'armi or vaglio; the main entrance was probably where today's entrance opens onto Piazza Galeazzo di Tarsia. Only a few rooms remain accessible.

Carlo I d'Angiò ordered the castle built in 1270-1271, entrusting it to marshal Drogone di Beaumont after Amantea's revolt; the village grew around it. From 1443 it was the barony of the Di Tarsia. Earthquakes in 1638 and 1783 damaged it, and the French siege that began on 30 December 1806 left it nearly destroyed.

The name Belmonte probably comes from Drogone de Beaumont, the royal marshal whom Charles of Anjou charged with building the castle. Each 16 August the town holds the sagra degli ziti con carne di pecora, a sheep-meat pasta festival marking the 1974 blasting of the rock-cut castle entrance, when the Municipio was built in its place.

The walk up to the ruins is not difficult and offers good views of the sea and surrounding landscape from the top. A picnic area in the nearby park provides a convenient spot to rest, and the ruins are easily reached by walking through the narrow streets of the old town center.

On 16 August 1974 the rock-cut entrance passage with its moat and drawbridge, similar to that of the Castello della Valle at Fiumefreddo Bruzio, was blown up to make way for the present town hall. The date is still marked each year with the Sagra degli ziti with sheep meat.