The Aghinolfi castle overlooks the town of Montignoso, five kilometers south of the town of Massa. The name of the castle clearly indicates its Longobard origins and it is in fact demonstrated that the area in which it is located once belonged to this crown.
In the fortified complex, an octagonal keep stands out for its beauty and accuracy, which stands on the highest point of the hill. The polygonal shape and the particular type of foundation of the structure assign it to the first centuries of the late Middle Ages. It is probably the oldest element of the entire complex. Other peculiarities, such as the size of the internal spaces and the walls with horizontal bichromatic bands, also suggest a residential function. Its interior is characterized by the presence of a circular tower which, rising well beyond its height, performs, in addition to the structural one, also the function of a watchtower. The architectural aspect can be traced back to the end of the 16th century: a large wall with flanking towers encloses two spaces located at different heights. In the upper space is the parade ground, distinguished by the octagonal tower and a circular bulwark (Baluardo di San Paolino – 15th century). the outer wall encloses a larger space occupied, according to sources from the 16th century, by numerous houses, which have now almost completely disappeared.
Inside it is possible to see the history of the castle through a virtual reconstruction which can also be downloaded from the official website.
It is possible to admire the stratigraphy of the ancient floors (including the aforementioned square base) thanks to a special glass floor.
History
In 590 Garfagnana was occupied by Teodolinda’s militias who transformed the Castrum Aghinolfi into a Longobard fortress. We know that the castle was still a Longobard possession in 753 when King Astolfo donated a plot of land in the area to his brother-in-law.
Due to its strategic position, this castle has always enjoyed great importance. From its terraces, in normal visibility conditions, there is a view of the entire Tyrrhenian coast of the Ligurian Sea from the Gulf of La Spezia to Livorno; in particular conditions you can even see the reliefs of the Maritime Alps (Des Alpes in France and Besimauda (Bisalta), Marguereis and Mondolè in the province of Cuneo).
The castle also controlled the underlying Via Francigena and was a refuge for most of the inhabitants of the area and was in fact the most important in the valley.
From the 11th century the castle was owned by various feudal Lordships of Lombard origin including a branch of the Nobili di Corvaia and the Cunimondinghi until 1376 when, following the struggles between Lucca and Pisa, it came into the possession of the Republic of Lucca which strengthened it militarily .
In 1494 the fortification, when it was ceded to Charles VIII of France, was dominated by two high towers called the tower of San Paolino and the tower of San Francesco and its three enclosed walls extended for about one hectare. In the first enclosure there were 43 buildings used as a refuge by the inhabitants or as warehouses, in the second, which was accessed only via a drawbridge, there were 87 other houses while in the last enclosure, at the top of the hill, there was the castle real. The latter consisted of a large octagonal keep connected to a tower with a circular base by some curtain walls. In the fortress there was also a mill, a large cistern to collect rainwater and a secret passage to escape in case of danger.
The castle was abandoned after 1799 by the Republic of Lucca after the Jacobin revolution and the inhabitants of the area began to dismantle it by stealing building materials.
Another heavy event for the Castle that occurred at the time of Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Princess of Lucca and sister of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, was the decision to build the “cataracts” at Cinquale, from 1808 to 1812, to restore the plain of Montignoso from the centuries-old malarial fevers. For the materials necessary for the constructions, the Princess ordered that the materials needed be taken from the houses that were within the various walls surrounding the castle.
The castle was also of great importance during the Second World War, when the Nazi troops took it over and made it a stronghold of the Tyrrhenian Gothic line, causing its almost total destruction due to Allied bombings.
Until 1997 the complex remained abandoned and was easily invaded by spontaneous vegetation. Today it has been rebuilt and its octagonal keep is easily visible from the bottom of the valley.
Historical fragments from the Apuan Alps to the Lombards of Teodolinda
Numerous unofficial historical fragments and some folk tales and legends integrate the story of the birth and development of the Aghinolfi Castle. First of all, let’s say that the original “spur” of calcareous rock is surrounded by a solid masonry in parallelepipeds of Volterra tuff; this to expand the useful surface of the support base of the future octagonal tower. A clear sign that the tufa base must have existed before the actual tower; but it is equally evident that there would have been no need to import these tufa artefacts from distant Volterra, given the local abundance of stone material useful for the purpose. Petroarchaeology tells us that this is a clear sign that the base of the tower was built at a time when Volterra and Montignoso could be considered “militarily close”. It was especially the Romans (hasty war builders) who made use of easily assembled and available materials. Everything would therefore suggest that the base was originally built by some Roman garrison with a stable base in Pisa or Volterra. In this regard we can recall that since 200 B.C. there were bases of the Roman troops in Volterra and Pisa (and not yet in Lucca or Luni); we can also recall that the Via Aurelia, in its first phase of construction, stopped right in Volterra (see Via Aemilia Scauri – 105 BC) with a rustic extension up to Pisa (239 BC), where the bulk of the Roman troops northward expansion. Even at a superficial observation, the spur of rock on which the Aghinolfi Castle rests today suggests that since the very ancient times of the Ligurian Apuans it was a useful observation post for observing the whole plain below (ancient marshes Fosse Papiriane) and the whole today’s Ligurian Sea from La Spezia to Livorno, having in front of and visible on the horizon the “finger” of Corsica and the islands of Gorgona and Capraia. After the deportation of the Apuans (180 BC) who also occupied the areas around today’s Montignoso, up to the Parma Apennines and the subsequent deduction of the colonies of Luni and Lucca, the Romans had no choice but to proceed towards Gaul (50 BC).
It is historically known that Julius Caesar, rather than relying on his own strategic skills, used to win battles by preceding the enemy with alternative routes and shortcuts, also using the telegraph to communicate quickly with his troops (where by telegraph we mean signals with smoke, fire and with mirrors made from visible signal towers between them). Few doubts exist on the fact that Julius Caesar, to accelerate the conquest of Gaul starting from Lucca (where he was the triumvir) to Luni and from here to Vada Sabatia (today Vado Ligure) had a shortcut built by the son of Emilio Scauro (of also named Marco Emilio Scauro) around 56 BC. (see K.Lachmann), i.e. the one which leads today from Lucca to Sarzana (called Via Sarzanese-Valdera ex SS/ 439) and which plausibly extended from Camaiore (Campus Major) beyond a bottleneck between the sea marsh and the foot of the mountains (today Strettoia di Pietrasanta) passing precisely at the foot of the fortress on which the Aghinolfi Castle rests, towards today’s Massa (cf. tabula Peutingeriana pars IV – segmentum IV – ad Tabernas Frigidas). It’s hard to think that Julius Caesar missed the wonderful opportunity to use the Montignoso fortress as a location for a signal tower that could cover hundreds and hundreds of kilometers at a glance. And in fact during the restoration works of the Aghinolfi Castle (year 2001) a square-shaped base with unequivocally Roman characteristics was found under the foundations of the octagonal tower (however it is very difficult to evaluate its age). It is now easy to think that from this initial base (perhaps later enlarged by the Romans themselves with Volterra tuff) the Lombards began to build their typical octagonal shape, giving rise to the tower known as Aghinolfo or Aglilulfo (the names are equivalent) probably around the end of the sixth century of our era, also using basaltic rock from the Val di Vara. The two phases of construction are clearly distinguished even without being expert archaeologists.
