Castle of Santa Severina, Medieval castle and historical museum in Santa Severina, Italy.
The Castle of Santa Severina is a medieval fortress set on a hilltop in Santa Severina, Calabria, overlooking the Neto river valley below. The complex has a square keep, four round towers, and a series of walkways that now serve as museum spaces.
The Norman leader Robert Guiscard ordered the fortress built in the 11th century to hold control over the Neto valley. Angevin and Aragonese rulers later added towers and walls, each leaving their own mark on the structure.
The castle's name links it to Robert Guiscard, the Norman who took Byzantine Siberene in 1076 and ordered the fortress built; it is also called Carafa castle after Andrea Carafa, who paid 9,000 ducats to the treasury for the fief in the 16th century. The citizens long defended their autonomy with Angevin and Aragonese diplomas, and Carafa eventually besieged the town.
The fortress sits above the center of Santa Severina and can be reached on foot from the village. Wear sturdy shoes since many of the surfaces inside are uneven stone.
The walls and towers of the fortress show several building phases because different rulers modified the complex in their own style over time. Visitors who look closely can spot where one construction period ends and another begins just by reading the stonework.
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