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The Dukedom of Castro started in 1535
thanks to Pope Paolo III Farnese. The territory was a
big triangle that had it’s point in the north east by the
town of Acquapendente while the two sides were stretching
south towards the Tirrenian sea, respectively on the south
along the river Marta and to the north to the peninsula of
Argentario. |
 
Versione Italiana
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The DUKEDOM of CASTRO
The
“Cartago of Maremma“:
History of the city of Castro and of his Dukedom.
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The history of the dukedom of Castro is strictly tied to
the history of the Farnese family that were for a
long time one of the most important families of Europe,
and that at the beginning of the renaissance in the
middle 1500 he created a cushion state between the
church state and the Grand Dukedom of Tuscany. The city
of Castro had already benefited of a certain importance
with the Etruscans, that remained so under the Romans.
Of that period there are some remains like the via cava
cut in the tufo and the Etruscan tombs of which the most
famous is the tomb “della biga” where they found
a 'biga' with its horses and its prince warrior that
there rested, an equipe of Belgian archeologists
discovered it in 1967.
The importance of Castro increased when in the medieval
period the city became Diocese with a bishops residence,
after the destruction of the city of Vulci in 749
work of the Saracen trups. Its position didn’t seem of
great interest, but, in 1957 the city was occupied by
Pierluigi Farnese, son of the cardinal Alexander,
future Paul III. |
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But the Pope of that time, Clement VII, sent
Galeazzo Farnese to reconquer the city, that was
subjected to a great sack, that happened the 28
December 1527. It was described in 1575 by the
notary Domenico Angeli, citizen of Castro, in the De
Depraedatione Castrensium et suae Patriae Historia. |
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Castro is described like this: |
"...situated on an elevation in the shape of a lira,
surrounded by steep rocks, a deep valley and vines where the
citizens went to get reeds. In the fields all around there are
sheeps. [...] the centre of Castro is rappresented by Maggiore
square.
Before the sack, Castro was a rich city, with more than seven
centuries of soldiers and was one of the strongest cities S.Peters
had." |
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In 1537, Pope Paul III constituted the Dukedom of
Castro and Ronciglione and entrusted it to PierLuigi Farnese,
his natural son.
The city became capital of
the dukedom and was fortified and emblished with
imposing houses.The best architects were called and
engineers of the time a very important one is Antonio
da Sangallo il Giovane. Between the most important
house one of the most important, is surely la Zecca,
where money was printed, under the name of Pierluigi
Farnese.
Unfortunately the
splendour of Castro was very short and with the new Pope
Innocenzo X Doria Pamphili, Castro started going
down.
The Pope tried to get back
the amounts of money lended to the Farnese, and sent a
new bishop that was killed by some killers hired from
Pierluigi Farnese. At that point the Pope ordered to
destroy Castro. That was finished by the troups of the
Pope.
The inhabitants were lost
the city was shaved to earth without any respect not
even for the churches rich of frescos, that
archeologists are slowly taking to light.
Visiting today what is
left of the city is a bit like visiting a Maya site, the
vegetation covers the ruins scattered on a tufo rock
promontori surrounded on three sides by very high
cliffs, a classical example of defensive architecture
used by the old Romans and Etruscans. The river Olpeta
and the hole of the nuns surround the city, whilst on
one side the Etruscans had managed to get a road to
enter the village with one of there classic “Quarry
roads”, dug in the rock. Still today on a side of a
quarry road you note an Etruscan inscription, maybe
written by the builder. Instead who destroyed it wrote
on a rock in the entrance: |
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“Here was Castro” |
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