Top 10 Castles around Montella

Remains of the feudal castle of Serino, complete with boundary walls and access arch. Very suggestive place!

On the top of a hill full of vegetation, in the locality of Toppola, are the ruins of the Feudal Castle of Serino which, together with the Castle of Orano, constitutes the group of fortifications present in the territory of the municipality. Of the original structure, only the perimeter walls and the ancient chapel, now restored, are visible. According to some sources, the castle was built around 839 AD, as a defensive bulwark for the local inhabitants threatened by the raids of the militias engaged in the dynastic struggles for the succession to the throne of Benevento. However, the current conformation of the castle should date back to 1159, the year in which Costanza Saracena, belonging to the Sanseverino family, elected Serino as the capital of her feud. The structure is accessed through two suggestive arched doors that mark the passage along the three short ramps that once led to the main entrance. After the last door, you come across the Sanctuary dedicated to the Madonna delle Grazie which today includes the private chapel with a bell tower, once located near the residence of the feudal lord. With the loss of its defensive function, the castle suffered the neglect of time and was gradually abandoned. The ruins of the building, with the adjoining restored church, are now well kept, inserted within a highly suggestive natural setting, in which the centuries-old linden tree in front of the church makes a fine show.

A small historical jewel, the medieval village of Terravecchia, surrounded by a thick belt of olive groves, stands out in the Picentina Valley with its castle and centuries-old walls. It has just 51 souls, but its life has its roots in very remote times, in the ancient pre-Christian era when the area was settled by the Picentini. From 1000 onwards the village saw an exponential development; around the Castle the feud grew energetically, with shops, cisterns, warehouses, churches (that of Sant'Egidio and San Leone) and palaces. Cobbled streets and winding alleys look like a real capillary network and still today they shape and outline the center. The mule track leads to the castro which, restored in 1240 by Frederick II of Swabia, became a hunting lodge. The village abandoned since the end of the eighteenth century. after the D'Avalos family, today it has found vitality again, thanks to a huge restoration work. The historic houses, which have become venues for conferences, meetings and places of art, are authentically unique, confirming the richness of the local heritage. https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/borgo-di-terravecchia-giffoni-valle-piana?ldc https://www.prolocogiffonivallepiana.it/borgo-e-castello-medievale-di-terravecchia/

The Feudal Castle is located on top of the Serino hill. It is inserted in a wooded environment, very luxuriant. Unfortunately a large part of the fortress is in a state of abandonment.

It can be visited by reservation only.

Very suggestive and definitely challenging track in some passages but, overall, beautiful and fun. Final destination: the Montella Castle which can only be visited by reservation.

The monumental complex of the Monte, consisting of a church, monastery, archaeological garden and castle, rises just above Montella, a small town in the heart of the green Irpinia. Of great historical interest is the site of the 10th century Lombard castle with the adjacent settlement dating back to the 6th-7th century. Excavations conducted in the 1980s have brought to light finds from the Lombard and early medieval times, including coins and fragments of frescoes, as well as burials dating back to the same period. Today the central body (tower or donjon), the surrounding walls and the ruins of the rooms of the nobility are visible. In 1293 Charles II of Anjou confiscated the castle to make it a place for recreation. King Charles II was responsible for the construction of the cistern and the water channeling system. In the fourteenth century, at the behest of the d'Aquino, feudal lords of Montella, the twelfth-century tower was renovated and works to improve the building were carried out, with the creation of pictorial decorations. The castle was inhabited by the Cavaniglia counts in the 15th century, and during their lordship it hosted a memorable hunting expedition in 1445 in which King Alfonso the Magnanimous took part. The church has a single nave with side chapels. The wooden altars are of great value. In one of the side chapels there is an important thirteenth-century wooden altarpiece depicting the "Madonna dell'umiltà". The monastery was built between 1554 and 1586 on the pre-existing church at Monte di Pietà, by the Monte di Pietà di Montella, founded and administered by the Congrega del SS. Sacrament of Montella. It was entrusted to the Minimi Reformed Conventuals of S. Francesco replaced in 1603 by the reformed Observants. In 1613 a community of 12 fathers and several lay brothers lived in the convent. The feudal lord Antonio Grimaldi, in 1642, donated the garden adjacent to the convent, former dependence of the castle, to the Monte di Pietà. It has undergone several changes over the centuries: the structure has a square plan and the typical cloister with cross vaults frescoed in the seventeenth century by Michele Ricciardi. Completely recovered and made usable, the upper floors could be used for spiritual retreats, while it is still possible to visit the cells. The lower rooms, where the life of the friars took place, can be visited in full by taking advantage of the routes prepared also by means of illustrative panels present in each area. The convent garden is located in the open space adjacent to the castle; it has been recovered and the same crops from the Middle Ages that gave sustenance to the monks have been planted there. The entire monumental complex of the Monte, restored and open to visitors, is the property of the Santissimo Sacramento di Montella Archconfraternity

This path leads from the Terminio to the castle of Montella. It winds through beech and chestnut groves. Pay attention to some particularly challenging sections.