The fairytale castle built on a spur of rock
In the hilly hinterland of the province of Chieti, in the valley of the Rio Secco, the Castle of Roccascalegna is one of the most spectacular and photographed castles in Abruzzo: it stands on top of a narrow, steep spur of rock that rises vertically above the village, so that its walls and towers seem to grow out of the stone itself, an image straight out of a fairy tale. Built probably by the Lombards or the Normans around the eleventh century as a watchtower and defensive fortress, it was enlarged in the following centuries; it fell into ruin after it was abandoned, and part of it collapsed at the beginning of the twentieth century, but it was carefully restored at the end of the twentieth century and is now open to visitors.
The castle is linked to a dark legend: in the seventeenth century, the baron Corvo de Corvis, the lord of Roccascalegna, is said to have reintroduced the hated "ius primae noctis", the right of the lord to spend the wedding night with every bride of his feudal estate. In 1646, a young bride, unwilling to submit, sent her husband to the castle in her place, dressed as a woman, who stabbed the baron; according to tradition, before dying, the baron leaned his bloody hand on a stone of the tower, leaving a print that could never be erased, until the tower collapsed. Climbing the steps carved into the rock to the castle, visitors enjoy a splendid view over the hills and the Majella. In summer, the castle hosts events and medieval re-enactments.
Tip: photograph the castle from the road below; climb up in the late afternoon for the view of the Majella at sunset.
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