Roccasecca Castle
Description
Roccasecca Castle, built in 994 on Mount Asprano by order of Abbot Mansone of Montecassino with the d’Aquino family of Pontecorvo, served a defensive role controlling the Sacco–Liri and Melfa valleys. The Lombards first settled the area in the 8th–9th centuries, founding the County of Aquino.
Destroyed and rebuilt several times, it was reconstructed after 1000 by Landolfo and Rinaldo II d’Aquino with a cylindrical tower that withstood Emperor Henry VI’s siege in 1197. Frederick II stayed there briefly in the 13th century. The last count was Landon IV, whose descendants divided the family line. In later centuries, Roccasecca passed between rulers — including Queen Joanna II, Alfonso I, and the Borgia and Spanish monarchs — and suffered multiple sieges, most famously described by Francesco Guicciardini in his History of Italy.
By the 17th century, the castle had lost military importance, passing to the D’Avalos, Colonna, and Boncompagni families until the French occupation (1796). According to tradition, Saint Thomas Aquinas was born there in 1225.
Now in ruins, the fortress preserves square defensive walls, corner towers, a cistern, and a watchtower (“Torre del Cannone”). Nearby stands the small church of Santa Croce, linked to the memory of St. Thomas.
Address
Viale Paolo VI, Roccasecca, Italy
Established
994 AD