Verrucole Castle, Medieval fortress in San Romano in Garfagnana, Italy

Verrucole Castle is a stone fortress on a wooded hill, with a tall blocky tower of rough grey-brown stone and a shallow pale pyramidal roof. A lower defensive wall of the same stone runs along the hillside, enclosing a grassy terrace, and a short connecting wall with a walkway links it to the tower. The visible remains date from Este rebuilding around 1450 and 1564.

The Gherardinghi counts held the first fortified settlement from 991 until 1285, when it was sold to the Republic of Lucca. The visible fortress is Renaissance work: Leonello d'Este rebuilt the square keep and added the round tower around 1450, and Alfonso II fortified it with two bastions in 1564. It served as an Este military garrison for some four centuries.

The two towers take their names from their shapes: Rocca Quadra means the square tower, Rocca Tonda means the round tower. Visitors can see in the restored rooms how people lived in medieval times, with objects and explanations about daily life and crafts.

The fortress stands at 600 metres above sea level on its hill above San Romano in Garfagnana. Visitors enter through the old Porta Piana, which still has its guard post and machicolation; turning left leads to the crenellated curtain wall, the casemate-gun embrasure and the sixteenth-century bastions facing the Pania di Corfino massif. Near the stone staircase, look for the narrow emergency door, the castle's escape route.

The fortress name comes from the Latin verruca, meaning a high, rocky peak, as recorded by Cato and Aulus Gellius. Bronze Age finds and traces of a medieval village have been discovered on the basaltic hill beneath the walls.