Ameglia Castle was mentioned from the 10th century among the castles belonging to the Bishopof Luni. Ameglia was an attractive site, as it was equipped with a court, a fish market and aport and was then supposed to have a great economic grouth. The castle was also mentioned in another document of 1174, in which it is written that the inhabitants of Pietracoperta – a territory destroyed by the Genoese - had lived in Ameglia and equipped it with a defensive tower during that year.
The castle became then the residence of the Bishop of Luni until the 14th century, when it was owned by Castruccio Castracani. In 1470 the village and the fortress were sold for 6.000 gold ducati to the Banco di San Giorgio from the Viscounts. From that moment on, the destiny of this area was linked to Genoa.
The defensive function of the castle ended in the 19th century, when it became the seat of the Municipality of Ameglia.
The construction period is uncertain, but it could date back to the Late Middle Ages due to its position close to the ridge between the moth of the Marinasco River and the monastery of Santa Croce in Punta Corvo. It was used as path to reach the hill of Montemarcello. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the village was built around the castle.
The structure of the castle is located on top of a hill overlooking the valley and stands in the middle of the village. The fortress is composed by a 2 floors rectangular building – where there is evidence of several reconstructions – by a circular tower and bythe trapezoidal defensive walls. Starting from the core of the castle, along the centuries new houses were built around the fortress. This phenomenon originated the fortified village, whose structure consists in concentric circles.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.