Rocca Maggiore
Assisi’s imposing fortress, set on the hill overlooking the town, offers a sweeping view of the Umbrian valley from Perugia to Spoleto
It represents a significant example of 14th-century military architecture that is still well preserved. Visitors can access the fortress from a parade ground or entrenched camp that follows the slope of the land, enclosed by walls and protected by a 16th-century rampart. Past an additional lookout tower, we enter the heart of the fortress, composed of three structures built in different eras. The oldest part is the bridge house, dating back to the 14th century: preceded by a paved courtyard, it is dominated by the tallest tower, the keep, home of the castellan. A second part is accessible by means of a turret, the result of obvious restoration, which leads, through a covered walkway inside the walls, to the polygonal tower, built in the mid-1400s by the mercenary Jacopo Piccinino and completed by Pope Pius II.
Its main defensive function having become obsolete, the fortress became the residence of the castellans deputed to control the territory; later, it was used as a prison, and following extensive restoration it became a public monument that can be visited.
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