Gradara Castle

Gradara Castle The castle of Gradara is the complex that stands on the top of a hill in the municipality of Gradara, in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, in the Marche region, consisting of a medieval castle-fortress (the rocca) and the adjacent historic village, protected by a outer wall that extends for almost 800 meters, making the entire structure imposing. Gradara was, due to its geographical position, a crossroads of traffic and people; in the medieval period the fortress was one of the main theaters of the clashes between the militias loyal to the Papacy and the turbulent lords of the Marche and Romagna. Over time, the castle has gradually become one of the most visited monuments in the region and is the scene of museum, musical and artistic events. In 2015, 205 536 visitors were registered The fortress stands on a hill 142 meters above sea level: the keep, the main tower, rises for 30 meters, dominating the entire valley; it is possible to look as far as the Adriatic Sea, to the north, or to Mount Carpegna, to the west. It was built around 1150 [2] by the powerful De Griffo family: subsequently falling out of favor with the papacy, the investiture of the Curte Cretarie was taken from them and entrusted to the leader of the Guelphs of Romagna, Malatesta da Verucchio (called Mastin Vecchio) progenitor and founder of the Malatesta dynasty, the great lords of Rimini, Cesena and Pesaro. It was the Malatesta family who decided to build the two walls, erected between the 13th and 14th centuries [2]. In 1445 Galeazzo Malatesta decided to sell Gradara to Francesco Sforza for 20,000 gold florins; however, when Francesco arrived in Gradara to take possession of it, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, a man of arms and patron, refused to give it to him and even to return the money. Following this in 1446 Francesco Sforza, ally of Duke Federico da Montefeltro, moved towards Gradara to take it out with arms: his army, well equipped with cannons, bombards and guns, besieged and attacked the fortress hard for 40 days. , which seemed destined to fall. Thanks to bad weather and the imminent arrival of reinforcements from the Malatesta, Francesco Sforza was nevertheless forced to retire, leaving Gradara in the hands of Sigismondo. The dominion of the family over Gradara ended in 1463 [2] when Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, excommunicated by Pope Pius II, clashed directly with Federico da Montefeltro, who besieged Gradara on behalf of the Church. The fortress, which had resisted numerous sieges in the past, had to surrender on that occasion, only to be handed over to the vicariate by the Pope to the Sforza of Pesaro, faithful allies of the Church. From that moment Gradara will change hands several times and some of the most important families of the peninsula will compete for its possession: the Della Rovere, the Borgias, the Medici have walked through the halls of the castle, confirming the leading role of the Malatesta fortress in the complicated and tumultuous political chessboard of the papal territories located in the present Marche and Romagna. From 1641 Gradara passed under the direct control of the State of the Church through the papal legates, beginning its long agony. When, in 1920, the Zanvettore family bought the Rocca di Gradara, the castle and the walls were reduced to a state of ruin. Umberto Zanvettore financed the restoration of the castle and the walls of the village and, while making more interpretative than philological interventions, [3] restored the site to its original splendor. In 1928 the fortress was sold to the Italian State, with the right of usufruct by Zanvettore's widow, Alberta Porta Natale, until 1983. Paolo and Francesca. According to legend, the fortress was the backdrop to the tragic love between Paolo and Francesca, sung by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy [4]. Around 1275 Guido da Polenta, lord of Ravenna, gave his daughter Francesca in marriage to his faithful ally Giovanni Malatesta, lord of Rimini, called Gianciotto because he was "crippled", lame, brave man of arms but ugly in the person of him. At the time of introducing himself to Francesca, he sent in his place his brother Paolo, a noble, handsome and courteous knight, already married to Beatrice Orabile di Ghiaggiuo