Caetani Castle

By the Editors of the Madain Project

The Caetani Castle (Castrum Caetani or Castello Caetani), is a medieval period fortified complex situated near the third mile of ancient Via Appia Antica, south of Rome. The Castrum Caetani served both as a stronghold and a center of governance for the Caetani family, with a strong emphasis on controlling the surrounding agricultural lands and maintaining security along the Via Appia. The medieval period fortress incorporates a number of ancient Roman funerary monuments including the Tome of Caecilia Metella.

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Overview

The entire estate covered an area of approx. 24,000 square meters. The castrum was first constructed during the 9th or 10th century CE. However, the current layout and archaeological remains date back to the first decade of the fourteenth centur CE, built as a defensive stronghold for the noble Caetani family, who were influential during the Middle Ages. The structure is characterized by a series of defensive walls, towers, and gates, as well as an internal layout that reflects its primary purpose as a military and administrative center in the Roman countryside.

The Castrum Caetani was built on a raised location on the ancient Roman road, the Via Appia Antica, taking advantage of its strategic position for defensive purposes. The fortification consists of a rectangular, though somewhat, irregular perimeter wall, incorporating large towers at the corners and key points of the circuit. The walls were constructed using opus caementicium (Roman concrete) and opus latericium (brickwork), which allowed for durability and effective defense. The castrum's construction included the building of stables, houses, warehouses, the church of St. Nicholas, and the palace of the Caetani as well as adding the medieval battlements to the top of the tomb thus transforming the tomb into a defensive tower. The remnants of the Caetani only include the Church of St. Nicholas, parts of the Caetani Palace, and the medieval battlements.

The Caetani used this fort to control the traffic on the road and to collect exorbitant tolls. In the fourteenth century the castle was passed to the Savelli, and to the Orsini who held it until 1435, after which it became the property of the Roman Senate. According to Gerding, the monument was abandoned in 1485. Over the centuries, the two monuments endured numerous attempts of destruction in order to repurpose their materials. However, the two monuments protected one another from destruction. During the Renaissance, the monuments were saved as they were valued for the castrum while during Romanticism, the tomb, with its charm, allowed the survival of the castrum.

Architecture

circa 1302 CE

Palace
The main building of the Castrum Caetani complex was the building that stands south-east of the circular tomb of Caecilia Metella. Built by that Francesco Caetani it lies on the east side of the Via Appia in 1303, on a site previously occupied by at least two ancient Roman period tombs. The building formed the fulcrum of the castrum that encircled the Regina Viarum with its walls and gates and which included a cluster of dwellings and the church of San Nicola.

Of the original building, laid out on three levels, only outer walls remain, topped by swallow tail battlements, with mullioned windows on the first floor (mostly restored in the early 20th century CE). It lacks the floor supports and coverings, the roof and even the decorative elements. In the walls, once plastered, the large holes for the beams that supported the floors and the marks of the roof can still be seen. The construction technique, developed by Roman craftsmen, is a good example of a opus saracinescum or "Saracen work", with extensive use of local stone (especially Alban peperino). Between the Middle Ages and modern times, the Palace, associated with the Caetani family by its name, changed hands several times (Savelli, Colonna, Orsini, again Colonna, Cenci, etc.), alternately serving residential and military purposes, in the context of the struggles between factions for territorial dominance. The control of the Roman Campagna and southern Lazio often depended on possession of this stronghold at the third mile of the Via Appia. From the 16th century CE onwards, with the emergence of antiquarian culture, the palace was affected by its closeness to the magnificent tomb that stands next to it. The scholars and artists of the 18th and 19th centuries CE grasped the uniqueness of this context, which lay in the close ties, striking and harmonious, between the two monuments.

circa 1302 CE

Church of San Nicola in Capo di Bove
The Church, consecrated on 12 May 1303 and dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Bari, lies inside the castrum facing the palace building across the Via Appa Antica; it was used by the aristocratic owners of the palace and the inhabitants of the castrum. The building has a single hall with a semi-circular apse (inspect) at the back and a bell gable on the façade, preserved only in part, with two windows for the bells. The entrance from the Appian Way is marked by a portal with a simple marble frame, above which is an oculus.

The church's wall structures, like those of the palace, are made of tufa blocks which were originally covered in plaster, some traces of which survive. The exterior has eight buttresses (inspect) on each side, alternating with single-light windows with marble frames that were partially restored in the early 20th century. The interior has six windows on each side between which are twelve corbels in peperino marble decorated with a cup and leaf motif; these support the ribs of the ogival arches dividing the space into seven bays. All that survives of the wooden pitched roof supported by the system of arches are the depressions on the inside wall of the main façade.

No trace of the original floor survives. The light entering from the windows helped to make the church appear wider than it actually is. This church, refined but simpler in style, reminiscent of the Cistercian Abbeys of Europe, is the only example of Gothic Cistercian architecture in Rome. Boniface VIII's long sojourn in Paris when still a cardinal must have influenced his architectural choices when building the church. The church remained in private hands until 1859 CE when "the Papal States acquired the Caetani Church and the surrounding area from Sig. Jannetti"; in 1870 CE it became the property of the Italian State.

circa 1302 CE

Fortification Walls
The Caetani estate was enclosed by a circuit wall, designed to form a protective boundary around the so-called castrum. The circuit walls of the Castrum Caetani are notable for their layout, which follows the natural terrain and contours of the area. Today, the remains of these fortifications, though partially in ruins, provide a valuable archaeological and architectural insight into the medieval military architecture and the use of defensive walls in the Roman countryside. The entire wall ran for a total length of approx. 700 meters around the Caetani estate.

circa 1302 CE

Tower
The monumental circular tower of the Castrum Caetani, was originally an ancient Roman funerary monument, dedicated to Caecilia Metella, the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus, a consul in 69 BCE, and the wife of Marcus Licinius Crassus. During the medieval period when the area was converted in to a fortified estate the tomb of Cecilia Metella was converted in to a watch tower with bettlements built on top.

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