Roccadaspide

The castle
The castle, within the built-up area, is set on a hill that dominates the Valley of the Calore river. Its construction started around 1245, on the ruins of a pre-existing fortress. It is believed that the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II ordered to fortify the original structure, after the conspiracy of Capaccio, with the aim of putting in that area a bastion to better control the Calore valley. Ancient documents show that, at least since the 10th century, there was a fortress in Roccadaspide (it was only a tower), while documents about a real castle dating back to 1270 have been found. It is certain that Frederick II, during the period of the construction of the Roccadaspide’s castle, ordered the building of numerous fortifications along the Calore Valley . The castle housed the noble families to whom was granted the lordship of the Universitas of Roccadaspide; currently it is privately owned. The castle, which for centuries has undergone several changes, is in excellent condition: it has a perimeter of 400 meters and consists of 33 rooms and 7 towers (2 rectangular and 5 cylindrical). Inside its walls there are also rooms once used as a prison and torture chamber and the courtyard. It is certain that during fuedalism several structures were erected around the castle, such as walls, towers, a wooden drawbridge, a cister, two artistic interior doors (once the town’s gates), the slaughterhouse, warehouses, the vines, and many others of which today only few ruins remain.

Monastery of the Carmelites’ ruins
The Discalced Carmelites monastery was on an isolated hillock, in slightly elevated position compared to the town, about one kilometre from the town centre. Its main function was to guard the tombs of the noble families of Roccadaspide and the war grave. Under the anti-clerical policy pursued by the Napoleonic Government, the monastery was closed in September 1809, but its church continued to be a place of worship for a short period, until it was entrusted to the Municipality. The monastery, now in ruins, was demolished in the 1950s and its stones used to construct the rural roads. The structure consisted of several buildings, including a church with nine chapels, a refectory, a cloister and other common places of work.

Church of the Nativity of Mary
Present parish church, it is situated on a hill that dominates the main square of the town. It was built in 1608 near the monastery of St. Elizabeth; the church has windows  only  on the left side ( because the right side was adjacent to the monastery). It has been restored several times over the centuries. The church was badly damaged by the earthquake of 1980; it was restored and reopened at the end of  1990s. Very beautiful are the bronze portal (dating back to the last restoration), the Bell Tower with the clock and the sacred furnishings kept inside the church, including an oil painting of the Immaculate Conception (considered an early work by Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, aka Battistello, of 1607) and the statues of Saint Symphorosa and Saint Getulius, containing their relics.