Il castello di Casertavecchia. Note storiche e interventi di restauro

Recent research separates the construction of the Casertavecchia castle from the foundation of the urban settlement, attested in since 861 during the domination of the Lombard dukes of Benevento. The castle was built later, shortly after 1150 in the Norman period, after the constitution of the Comitatus Casertae, approved by the king of Sicily Ruggero II. Composed by successive extensions, the castle at the end of the thirteenth century had taken the shape of a hexagonal building with an internal courtyard, equipped with quadrangular towers, placed on the eastern and western fronts, and defended by an imposing cylindrical keep, located a few meters above the palace. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the construction in the plain of a new Count’s palace caused the decline of the Casertavecchia castle, which was within a few decades completely abandoned. In recent times the castle has been subject to restoration interventions, not definitive because sporadically carried out on the Availability of economic resources each time insufficient for the design of an overall intervention. At different times, the areas outside the building were arranged, the hall on the ground floor of the eastern body was rebuilt, some wall partitions and perimeter towers were consolidated. It is hoped that in the near future a new restoration project can be drawn up with scientific method and that the building can be assigned an adequate and stable use.