After the wonderful lunch at the Agriturismo, we needed something to work off the calories. Fabrizio had just the thing climb to the top of the castle shown above.
As we made our way towards the castle I was beginning to wonder whether I made a mistake by not bringing my trekking poles that day but, surprisingly, the climb up was much easier than I expected.
So, though it is not obvious in the above photo, the guy in the back is me and I am 78% of the man that I was last year, roughly 50lbs lighter, which could be why the climb was so much easier for me LOL.
The castle was built as the equivalent of what would today be considered an early warning system. From the top tower, which was not accessible, one could ostensibly watch both inland and seaward approaches for invaders. Saracens (ancestors of the current population of Turkey) used to invade the Abruzzo region from the east while from the landward side it could have been Florentines, Neapolitans or any one of a number of the various city states that existed within the boundaries of modern day Italy. Lookouts would set signal fires to indicate a coming invasion giving the local population time to either take shelter or prepare defenses.
The castle has a strong local legend involving a baron named Corvo de Corvis who is said to have re-introduced ius primae noctis (the “right of the first night”), meaning that newlywed brides from his fief had to spend their first night with him, instead of with their husbands.
According to the story, one bride (or her husband disguised as a bride in some versions) killed the baron and in his dying throes he left a bloody handprint (or mark) on a wall. That mark was said to reappear (or remain visible) even after attempts to clean it. courtesy Chat Gpt
To me the one of the more interesting part of the castle was the exhibit featuring “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri, more commonly known as Dante’s inferno. Fabrizio mentioned that in high school in Italy almost an entire school year is devoted to the epic poem.
Honestly, other than to know that there were nine circles of hell, as described by Dante, that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge of the classic. However, but wait! there’s more! The diagram below shows that within each given circle of Hell, there were subcategories! Who knew LOL
The other item item that I found moving, (me finding something moving? huh lol) was the display showing the last line of the epic.
“And we then emerged to see the stars again” ……I think I might have to do a little more research into the Divine Comedy as I it appears that I there is a blind spot in my admittedly limited exposure to classic literature :-0. Next activity? Off to a winery but “ciao per ora” Ciao for now.
Lou Hikes? 