Monteroduni

It’s one of the most beautiful castles of the Molise, both as regards the architectural structure, its preservation state and position, situated on the top of the village and visible from the valley. During the Norman and Swabian domination, Monteroduni was feud of the Count residence of the Molise who, according to Masciotta, kept it as one of the major fortresses of the County. Today the castle of Monteroduni appears with its stately structure, cylindrical robust towers surmounted by a Guelph battlement and embattled wall curtains, in calcareous stone ashlars and regular runs. The building of a first fortified hill-group, in place of the “statio” of Ad Rotas, dates back to the Lombard epoch, but we haven’t reliable archaeological proofs to give value to these hypotheses. Anyway, the fortress existed in the 12th century. In fact we can learn from historical sources that the Count Bertoldo of Kunsberg, supreme major of Henry III, in May 1193, wanted to occupy the County of Molise, besieging the castle. The Duke Corrado of Lutzelinhart, known as “Moscaincervello”, succeeded him and kept going the siege until they had surrendered. In the first half of the 16th century, the D’Afflitto’s epoch, the castle ended by losing the merely military, original aspect to partially transform into residential structure, undergoing relevant embellishment interventions. The castle at the centre of the countryside round Isernia, was seat of toll-taxes Revenue Office, as a tablet of 1570 immured at the entrance shows, listing the tolls to pay to go out from the Neapolitan state. The planimetric structure presents a lightly trapezoidal shape due to the Southern side inclination. The castle is surrounded by a ravelin and the principal entrance opens on a garden, whose sides present rooms, which in the past were intended for the slavery. The great staircase and the open gallery of the first floor with a large, central arch, lead to the representation hall, where you can still see the original brick paving with the escutcheon of the Pignatelli della Leonessa’s, the last feudatories of the castle. In the hall there is a grand marble chimney and a wooden ceiling distempered with knightly motives, realized at the beginning of the 18th century. Now only the strong wall structure, the big tankers to collect rain water, the loopholes and the embrasures to spill hot liquids on the besieges, remind the hard fortress of the past. Recently the castle is property of the Commune of Monteroduni, whom has provided to restore it and opened some halls to the public for visits and cultural events.