La Rocca

The Medieval castle “La Rocca” is situated upon a hill, right over the village of Arquata. As a borderland territory for many centuries, around the XI-XII cent.Arquatans started to build a fortress to control all the valley and surroundings. A Legend wants the Queen Giovanna D’Angiò (also called“the Crazy”) living in this castle from 1420 until 1435. According to local tradition, her ghost still walks through the glacises of the Rocca. The first tower to be built was the “Female Tower” on the South-Eastern side of the hill (12 metres height). Linked with this tower are the glacises, running 70 metres to the North, until the “Male Tower”, or “Northern Tower” – 24 metres high. This tower is the most impressive element of the fortress. Between the two towers there is a large square, where soldiers were hosted. During Medieval Age, Arquata and its Rocca were protagonists of wars between Ascoli and Norcia for possession andsupremacy of the whole Municipality and its valley.