Castles
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| Pallotta Castle |  |
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Valcimarra |
| Croce | |
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Vestignano |
| Pievefavera | |
The Pallotta Castle makes
the whole town to look unforgettable: from the top of the hill it
dominates with the armony of a Renaissance building, which has
replaced the modest dwellings where once a feudal castle stood.
We do not have any precise news about the castle's origins. The
entrance is through Porta Camerte closed by a massive gate. Once
you have passed by the first courtyard with the
communication-trenches, the portcullis at closure of the entrance
and the machicolation, you find yourself in a rather dark hall;
in the left lobby you can admire a 1845 fresco. From the hall you
enter into an room where the carriages, the harnesses and the arms are kept. By crossing the draw-bridge you
get into the park, where one of the oldest pinetree of the region
stands high. On the main floor, among the numerous fully
furnished rooms, the dining-room is the most interesting: it
houses a rich eighteenth-century pottery and Bohemia crystals
collection.
The Pallotta family was charged in 1450 by Niccolò Mauruzzi da Tolentino to restore the castle of Caldarola.
Jacopo, a military engeneer, who, already
in 1460, was able to rebuild all that went destroyed during the
wars, came from a family of Norman architects and soldiers
arrived in Sicily with Goffredo di Buglione in 1100. In 1296
Guglielmo Pallota, captain of mercenary troops, held the defence
of the bridge of Brindisi almost alone against the French, armed
only of a three-balls sledgehammer, whose image later stood out
on the family's coat-of-arms, granted by Bonifacio VIII. Along
the centuries the family had four Cardinals (Evangelista 1597,
Giovan Battista 1666, Guglielmo mid-1700, Antonio 1847). It is
mainly to Evangelista, appointed Cardinal and Prefect for
St.Peter's vestry-board by Pope Sisto V, to whom Caldarola owes
its architetonic flourishing and its typically systine-like
structure. At the end of the eighteenth century the count
Desiderio, heir of the architetonic taste of his family, set
forth to rebuild the damaged parts of the castle, restoring it to
its ancient military character.
The fortification (XIII), as it reached our days, in its peculiar V shape, dates back to the time of the Da Varano's rule. It had the function of defending the south-eastern dominions of the family.
The peculiarity of the castle resides on the fact that the inhabited place coincides perfectly with the castle wall at the centre of which is the ogive entrance gate.
The church, where inside are five
made-of-wood golden altars, houses works by Nobile da Lucca,
Andrea Simone and Federico De Magistris, beside a remarkable
crucifix placed under the central altar and a rough but imposing
statue of S.Antonio Abate, both made of wood.
Thanks to its geographical
position the ancient site of Faveria, built in Roman times, develops as a statio, that
to say a post. It was placed along the road linking the Flaminia
way to the road which from Urbs Salvia led to Ancona.
In high Middle Age (X-XI century) the town centre extended towards a rocky hill gaving origin to the village of Pieve which little by little assumed its present shape. The town, positioned in the shape of a fish-bone, is surrounded by three town walls with ogive gates. The church was rebuilt in the twelfth century but it underwent more restoration works in later ages.
The churchyard is very peculiar: it is the focal point of the territory of Pievefavera, where it is possible to admire a few archaeological remainings from the Roman age.
A wider antique museum is open
inside the castle tower and it offers the visitors a particular
combination of Roman and medieval epoques, but this is a fact
already evident in the name itself of the town.
The remainings of the monumental front walls of the Abatia Sancti Benedicti decrypta saxi Latronis (Benedictine Abbey) are an evident and real proof of the Benedictine presence in the territory of Caldarola. The abbey still stands majestically on a rocky hill overlooking Valcimarra, even if half hidden by the vegetation. It was a real feudal fortress suitable to house both the monks and the local population in time of danger.
Very interesting to see is also,
the little sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso , which according
to the legend, must have hidden the hole of the Sibilla Cimaria.
Inside you can adimire two frescoes: the Crucifixion of Christ
and a Madonna with the baby by Maestro di Patullo.
The castle (IX-X century),
with the changes made by the Da Varano Dukes from Camerino,
reached our days only in its external structure. It represents a
remarkable example of the art of building castles, and cuts a
good figure on the surrounding landscape.
Today it appears surrounded by a wall and inside stands a tower enclosed in the courtyard where the defence was organized; Inside the castrum there a second wall enclosing the houses of the village population.
The thirteenth-century Church of Santi Martino and Giorgio holds a great artistic importance. Inside, you can admire the Trittico of Simone de Magistris picturing the Ascension, the Crucifixion and the Assumption, spaced by two smaller paintings portraying Saint Martin and Saint George.
You can also have a look to a few
works by Andrea de Magistris and Nobile da Lucca.
