TOURIST ROUTES NEARBY TORTORETO
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The fortress in Civitella del Tronto is one of the most impressive work of military engineering in Italy : it extends for more than 500 meters over a rocky crest, covering an area of more than 25.000 m2. Its illustrious history is bound up with the strategic position it occupied for several centuries as the outpost of the northern boundary of various Neapolitan kingdoms. The most reliable information we have dates the building of the structure from 1564 to 1576, during Spanish domination. The structure was modified in following ages, but the outer walls were not altered. Prior to this stood an imposing wall fortified with five large towers in the acropolis of the town of Civitella del Tronto, which lay below site of the future fortress. These fortifications were destroyed by the inhabitants of the town in 1495 during a dispute with the Aragonese rulers of the time, and were never reconstructed. The fortress and village connected with it underwent several sieges. The most memorable of these was the ill-fated defense against the Sardinian-Piedmontese army in 1860/1861, which ended in surrender on March 20, 1861. The fortress was the last Bourbon stronghold to submit to the burgeoning movement toward Italian unity. Because of this, the unfortunate decision was made to demolish the walls of the fortress and of the town Civitella (the latter had been built by the house of Anjou in the 13th century). Happily the fortress returned to life in 1985 after thirteen tears of restoration under the direction of the Historical Society of L’Aquila, and its now open to tourists.
