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Duchy of Castro THE DUCHY OF CASTRO

Background


The Duchy of Castro

Pope Paulus III was born in Canino a little town in northern Latium close to the border with the Republic of Siena. His family, the Farnese, had several possessions in the area and Paul III enlarged them to form a continuous strip from the Thyrrhenian sea to the Lake of Bolsena. Paul III tried to get possession of Montefiascone to make this town the capital of what in his mind was to become a little state.
But Montefiascone resisted the papal attempts and eventually Paulus III decided to build a new town, following the steps of Pius II and his Pienza.
Giuliano da Sangallo was charged with designing the new town, called Castro and il Vignola took care of the churches. At his death (1549) he left to his family the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza and the Duchy of Castro, both formally part of the Papal State, but with the dukes behaving as independent sovereigns.
For nearly a century the Popes tried to regain control over the Farnese possessions, but with little success. In 1641 Pope Urbanus VIII waged war against the duke of Castro, but the attempt seemed aimed more at enlarging the pope's family possessions, rather than at restoring the rights of the Papal State. The duke Ottavio Farnese, with the support of Venice and Spain, was able to defeat the papal army and came close to conquering Rome.
A few years later in 1649, Pope Innocentius X reacted promptly to the killing of the bishop of Castro, whom he had just appointed, and charged the Farnese for being its instigators. The young duke Ranuccio Farnese was unable to support Castro which was under siege for many months and eventually surrendered.
The punishment went beyond the usual practices: not only the walls were pulled down, but the whole town of Castro was systematically demolished, including the churches. Eventually a column was erected with the inscription "QUI FU CASTRO" (here was Castro). The bells of the cathedral of Castro were utilized in the church of S. Agnese in Agone in Piazza Navona which the pope was in the process of turning into a family chapel. In today's maps (see the arrow in the map) three dots indicate an archaeological site and that's how Castro is indicated, because it was never rebuilt.
The blue line is a short itinerary in the Duchy of Castro, searching for the Farnese's coats of arms.

Farnese

Farnese

Farnese was called Farnete, after the name of some birds living in the nearby woods, but after becoming part of the Duchy of Castro the "t" was changed into an "s" in honour of the dukes. It was and still is a very little town, built on a tufaceous rock and accessible only from one point. The only gate still shows the coats of arms of the Farnese, but without the ducal crown.

Ischia

Ischia di Castro

Ischia di Castro was the closest town to Castro and became a refuge for the lower classes of Castro. The entrance is dominated by a fortress which served as a palace for the Farnese. The fleur-de-lis on the entrance of a house in Ischia is my background for this page. The nice font in the main church of Ischia comes from Castro.

The font

Valentano

Valentano, high on a hill commanding great views over the Lake of Bolsena and a nearby empty crater, was after Castro the most important town of the Duchy. Here the Farnese had another palace very similar to a fortress outside, but with nice Renaissance apartments inside. The little Palazzo Comunale di Valentano is still decorated with coats of arms of Paulus III and other popes (Martinus V).

Valentano

Gradoli

Gradoli is just a bit more than a village on the northern side of the Lake of Bolsena, but it has the most interesting palace-fortress of the Duchy of Castro. It is both a Renaissance palace and a powerful fortress.

Gradoli

Today the palace hosts the town hall and a little museum on the Duchy of Castro (see below a Farnese page-costume).

Page-costume

Capodimonte

Capodimonte is a little town on the western side of the Lake of Bolsena. Paulus III tried to conquer also the eastern side of the lake with Montefiascone, because this would have given him control of the Via Cassia the most important route to Rome from the north.
He had to content himself with Capodimonte, where he built another palace/fortress.

Capodimonte

Capodimonte is close to one of the two islands in the lake (Isola Bisentina) where Paulus III built a little palace and a church. The lake today in summer is a sort of small sea resort, but in the past the area was unhealthy because of malaria so the Farnese used their palace on the island during the winter.

Isola Bisentina

Marta

Marta, just a few miles south of Capodimonte, retains a very nice coat of arms of Paulus III at the entrance of the little town. The local Farnese palace is now split into flats (see below one of its windows). A little fortress protects the town.

Marta


SEE THESE OTHER EXHIBITIONS (for a full list see my detailed index)