THE CASTLE
THE TORRIONE

The old medieval Castle, wich slands in Piazza Garibaldi was built by the masters "De Sompnino" at the end of the 9th centuty.
The Castle "Castellum", diminutive of "Castrum" is situated on the top hill of Sant' Angelo, and up to the beginning, it was a defence fortress.
Dominated by a 30 metre high tower, with a cylindrical shape, interposed in the perimetrical walls of the castle, it was part of a very large system of signal of that period.
The tower was built together with the Castle on the highest point of the above - mentioned hill.
In walls are three metres thick.
That remains of the first tower is subdivide d in 4 floors.
People can enter through steeps stairways. Each floor has got four small windows.
Inside there are some basements with the prisons, ovens and cisterns used during a possible siege. Basides there are also niches, pitfalls and torture implements.
The original structure of the Castle, that was a starting house of the master (DOMUS), for the most part was destroyed.
Today people can just see the perimetrical structures of the Castle and the painted rooms of the palace where the De Sonnino used to live. Even if the comfort of those fortifications were modest, they had evrything to fulfil the needs of feudal master.
In the original village the main entrance was turned to the "Portella", arcade leading to St. Angelo's Church, and even today people can see the "anconi" that testifly the ancient access entrance. Towards 1550 the original nucleus of the castle tried to spread out along the sides of the hill and the place was called "Via di mezzo" (today Via Vittorio Emanuele) rich in arches and arcades.
During the year 1500 another ring - road was built, (now Via Giacomo Antonelli), wich goes from Porta di Tocco to Porta Riore.
These two streets communicate between by 14 alleys, rapid ways of connection.
Subsequently the town - walls, 696 metres long, were completed and were a very advaned defensive system.
These walls, in fact, were interrupted by 13 half - cylindrical turrets, with small windows for osservation, that connected 5 access doors: La Portella, Porta S. Pietro, Porta san Giovanni, Porta di Tocco e Porta Riore. These doors were open in the morning and closed in the evening.