Castel del Monte (Castel del Monte)
 |
The name Castel del Monte is from the Latin Castellum Montis, meaning "fortress of the mountain". The first evidence of human settlement are artifacts from the 11th century BC discovered in the valley beneath Castel del Monte and believed to be from an ancient necropolis. In the 4th century BC, Romans conquered the area and established Città delle Tre Corone, the name meaning "town of the three crowns". This town was later abandoned after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and replaced by the fortified town of Ricetto in what is now the oldest part of Castel del Monte. The first recorded mention of Castellum Del Monte came in 1223 in a papal bull by Pope Honorius III. In 1298, the Counts of Aquaviva took possession of the town. In 1474, it passed to Alessandro Sforza and a short time later to the Piccolominis. In 1501, forces loyal to Spain plundered Castel del Monte because of the town's allegiance to France. In 1579, the Piccolominis ceded the village as part of the Baronage of Carapelle to Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Medici, who governed the baronage for over a century-and-a-half, left their imprint on Castel del Monte. Among the Medici legacies to the town is the construction of Chiesa "Matrice" di San Marco in 1657, whose tower is one of the dominant architectural features of Castel del Monte; the painting of St. John the Baptist in the church of Madonna del Suffragio by Bernardino di Lorenzo di Monaldo (circa 1585) commissioned by Francesco de' Medici himself; and the diminutive Chiesa di San Rocco (1656).
The town's massive defensive walls, largely formed by "wall houses", and its great gates, were also completed under this period of Medici rule.
In 1743, the baronage passed to Charles of Bourbon, then king of Naples and Sicily (later King Charles III of Spain). The village became part of Italy in 1861.
Map - Castel del Monte (Castel del Monte)
Map
Country - Italy
 |
 |
| Flag of Italy | |
Italy was the native place of many civilizations such as the Italic peoples and the Etruscans, while due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, the country has also historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures, who immigrated to the peninsula throughout history. The Latins, native of central Italy, formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula, eventually expanding and conquering a large part of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural, political and religious centre, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's law, technology, economy, art, and literature developed.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR | Euro | € | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| CA | Catalan language |
| CO | Corsican language |
| FR | French language |
| DE | German language |
| IT | Italian language |
| SC | Sardinian language |
| SL | Slovene language |