Apricale Village & Castle, Apricale, Italy

Apricale is a picturesque small village to the north-east of Dolceacqua in western Liguria and surrounded by forested hills, included on the list of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

The Lucertola Castle next to the square towards the top of the village dates from the 12th century and you can still see two towers and parts of the walls. The two churches also both contain interesting historical artefacts such as a medieval mosaic in the Church of the Purification of the Virgin Mary* and the 16th century altarpiece in the Oratory of Saint Bartholomew.

As well as the main square it is also the tiny alleyways, arched passageways and ancient houses and staircases that give Apricale its unique charm so allow time to explore the most obscure corners of the village!

References:

italythisway.com

User Reviews

Saba K (2 months ago)
Really nice place with a really lovely beautiful garden above. Also worth seeing is the part of the museum dedicated to ceramics for those passionate

Yury Chernyshov (10 months ago)
A very interesting place with a good museum. Open only on Saturdays and Sundays after 2 pm and 5:30 pm. Entrance € `3.50 per person. From an interesting material about a native of Aprikale, who from a laundress became a favorite of the Russian tsar and in 1905 spied against Japan in favor of Russia, a sort of Italian Mata Hari

Michaël Baillot (2 years ago)
A faire sans aucun doute. L'approche par la route permet déjà de découvrir un village tout de pierre, planté en pleine montagne avec un charme fou. La visite est ensuite une réelle expérience : tout le village est un enchevêtrement de venelles, d'habitations en pierre, de recoins, d'escaliers improbables, de boîtes aux lettres plus créatives les unes que les autres. Un vrai moment de jeu à se perdre et se retrouver. La place principale est charmante.

Elena Morandi-Bonner (2 years ago)
A truly lovely spot especially if the weather is clear. The castle itself is open for visits at 3 PM.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Varvara_R

Historic Site of the week

Trinity Sergius Lavra

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is a world famous spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church and a popular site of pilgrimage and tourism. It is the most important working Russian monastery and a residence of the Patriarch. This religious and military complex represents an epitome of the growth of Russian architecture and contains some of that architecture’s finest expressions. It exerted a profound influence on architecture in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe.

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, was founded in 1337 by the monk Sergius of Radonezh. Sergius achieved great prestige as the spiritual adviser of Dmitri Donskoi, Great Prince of Moscow, who received his blessing to the battle of Kulikov of 1380. The monastery started as a little wooden church on Makovets Hill, and then developed and grew stronger through the ages.

Over the centuries a unique ensemble of more than 50 buildings and constructions of different dates were established. The whole complex was erected according to the architectural concept of the main church, the Trinity Cathedral (1422), where the relics of St. Sergius may be seen.

In 1476 Pskovian masters built a brick belfry east of the cathedral dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The church combines unique features of early Muscovite and Pskovian architecture. A remarkable feature of this church is a bell tower under its dome without internal interconnection between the belfry and the cathedral itself.

The Cathedral of the Assumption, echoing the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin, was erected between 1559 and 1585. The frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral were painted in 1684. At the north-western corner of the Cathedral, on the site of the western porch, in 1780 a vault containing burials of Tsar Boris Godunov and his family was built.

In the 16th century the monastery was surrounded by 6 meters high and 3,5 meters thick defensive walls, which proved their worth during the 16-month siege by Polish-Lithuanian invaders during the Time of Trouble. They were later strengthened and expanded.

After the Upheaval of the 17th century a large-scale building programme was launched. At this time new buildings were erected in the north-western part of the monastery, including infirmaries topped with a tented church dedicated to Saints Zosima and Sawatiy of Solovki (1635-1637). Few such churches are still preserved, so this tented church with a unique tiled roof is an important contribution to the Lavra.

In the late 17th century a number of new buildings in Naryshkin (Moscow) Baroque style were added to the monastery.

Following a devastating fire in 1746, when most of the wooden buildings and structures were destroyed, a major reconstruction campaign was launched, during which the appearance of many of the buildings was changed to a more monumental style. At this time one of the tallest Russian belfries (88 meters high) was built.

In the late 18th century, when many church lands were secularized, the chaotic planning of the settlements and suburbs around the monastery was replaced by a regular layout of the streets and quarters. The town of Sergiev Posad was surrounded by traditional ramparts and walls. In the vicinity of the monastery a number of buildings belonging to it were erected: a stable yard, hotels, a hospice, a poorhouse, as well as guest and merchant houses. Major highways leading to the monastery were straightened and marked by establishing entry squares, the overall urban development being oriented towards the centrepiece - the Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra.

In 1993, the Trinity Lavra was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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