The castle of Arena was built by the Norman king Roger I the 11th century, to protect the pass of Berra and to defend the dominions on the Tyrrhenian side of the greenhouses against the risk of potential attacks from the eastern side, where Byzantines and Arabs had important positions.
The administrative and military control of the feud of Arena was entrusted to the Conclubet family, which for over 600 years was confirmed in power by the different dominations that succeeded one another in Calabria ultra, to which the Acquaviva dukes took over in the sixteenth century.
The ruins of the castle, substantially destroyed by the earthquake of 1783, preserve the Norman architectural structure, with large perimeter walls and the main building in the shape of a quadrilateral.
At the corners of the quadrilateral there are four partially preserved towers, belonging to different periods during which the castle underwent various technical – defensive adaptations.
Thus, in the Angevin age, the original quadrangular towers with smooth shoe of the Norman tradition, were replaced on the eastern side by high towers with a circular base and grooved shoe, the latter aimed at increasing the results of the so-called “plumbing defense” technique. increasing the range and lethality of the projectiles launched from the walls. Just the grooved shoe base is a constructive rarity since the typical Angevin tower had a smooth shoe.
On the western side, the Norman towers were modified only in the Aragonese period, when the development of artillery made it necessary to lower and strengthen them.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.