Camponeschi Castle, Medieval castle in Prata d'Ansidonia, Italy.
Camponeschi Castle is a rectangular walled village in Prata d'Ansidonia, with traces of six square-plan perimeter towers and two preserved medieval gates on the cardo and decumanus. The west gate has a Gothic pointed arch beside an irregular pentagonal tower and a deconsecrated church of San Pietro. Inside, one-room stone houses linked by arches line via Camponeschi, alongside two 15th-century noble palaces.
Built from the 13th century and modified in the 15th, the village was the original castrum of Prata and was first named in 1508 as Castrum S. Petri Camponeschi. After passing through several owners in the Spanish era, it was a fief of the Nardis family from 1634 until feudalism was abolished in 1806. The last family left for Prata in 1963.
The deconsecrated church of San Pietro has a late Romanesque stone façade with a horizontal crowning, two portals, two small rose windows and a central oculus; one portal is Renaissance, with a stone architrave and triangular pediment. Inside, two naves are divided by stone pillars and round arches, with chapels holding Mannerist tabernacle altars. Its bell tower is a former defensive tower, rebuilt with a gabled top.
The walled village stands on the Navelli plateau above Prata d'Ansidonia, reached by a road climbing from the town; the west gate with its Gothic arch and the church of San Pietro are the main points of orientation. Restoration begun in 2003 stopped after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, and work funded through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan started again in January 2023, so parts of the borgo may be closed off.
In June and July 1980 the abandoned village was cleaned, wired for electricity and hosted Campo Hobbit 3, a gathering held from 16 to 20 July; bookshops and refreshment points opened inside the walls and a campsite with a large stage for concerts and debates was set up outside them.
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