La Rocca (The fortress)
Audio description
Here we can see only the remains of the fortress, which was once the cornerstone of the fortified village’s defensive system. The “castle” referred to the entire settlement, protected by walls and gates, while the fortress was its military stronghold.
In 1371, Cardinal Anglico de Grimoard, in his Descriptio Romandiolae, mentions the fortress of Premilcuore with its tower, its castellan, and a garrison of thirteen men who guarded it in the name of the Church. Access to the stronghold was through a gate and a small L-shaped stairway, within double walls. It did not lie where Via della Rocca is today, but along a road ascending from the Bacino basin—today’s Via Ferrante Nannini.
The fortress began to decline in the 1500s and was disarmed in the 1600s. In 1661, following an earthquake, a long stretch of its walls overlooking the Bacino was demolished.
Completing the defensive system was the Rocchetta de’ Gatti, positioned on the hill of the same name, of which only the foundation ruins remain today.
