Top 5 Castles around Quadrelle

Rough, steep roads up here

Beautiful castle of Avella, worth a visit.

The Castle of Monteforte was probably an ancient Roman castrum, on which a real castle was probably built by the Lombards in the 7th-8th century. But the history of Monteforte is very ancient: traces of its existence can be found already during the Second Punic War (fought between Rome and Carthage from 218 BC to 202 BC), when Annibale Barca passed through it on his way back from Capua towards Cannae, where he prepared the historic trap against the Romans. The first certain information we have about the village is contained in a document from 1102 preserved in the Montevergine Archives. In the Angevin period, it passed to the Princes of Montfort and Count Guido de Monfort lived there, who killed Prince Henry of England in 1271 in the cathedral of Viterbo. Having committed the crime, he was deprived of his possessions which passed to the Orsini family, whose lineage they remained in until 1806. The Castle was renovated and transformed into a summer residence by Charles of Anjou who lived there several times from 1271 to 1280. It was abandoned to itself from the 16th century; legend has it that who knows what treasures were buried in it, unfortunately this gave greedy hands the opportunity to complete its destruction.

The municipality of Avella is famous for the cultivation of hazelnuts, the name of the city derives from this peculiarity since in Latin the fruit of the hazelnut is called nux avellana.

Ruins of the Castle of the hamlet of Mercogliano "Capocastello"

The Castle of Avella is a place of historical interest located in Via Campopiano. Also known as "Castello di San Michele", it was built by the Lombards in the seventh century. A.D. and boasts a strategic position: it dominates the access that connects Monteforte Irpino with the Sabato Valley and leads to Puglia and the Adriatic coast. The hill on which the Castle of Avella stands was also the scene of further and important archaeological finds: in fact, among its ruins, the famous "Cippus Abellanus", dating back to 150 BC, was found. approximately and currently kept at the Episcopal Seminary of Nola. It is an inscription in the Oscan language, bearing the agreement between Abella and Nola and concerning the land in the midst of which stood a common Temple of Heracles. The fortress of the Castle, which occupies the top of the hill, is dominated by the monumental cylindrical tower, typical of Angevin architecture, and by the two imposing structures of the donjon, a particular type of defensive tower. At the base of the fortress, two walls surround the slopes of the hill. Within this area, the remains of numerous environments referable to residential structures are visible; among these, the only building preserved on an elevated level is a large rectangular cistern. A fairytale destination silhouetted against unspoiled nature, the Castle of Avella is the emblem of the medieval past of the lower-country town.

The castle of Grottolella built in 1083 on a pre-existing Lombard stronghold in control of the old village of Grottolella

The Castle dominates the old village over the valley crossed by the San Giulio stream, built on a pre-existing Lombard stronghold in the second half of the 11th century, it was besieged and destroyed by the troops led by Ruggiero II the Norman.