Walking around the massive fortress perched on a rock 1,600 feet above the Tronto river valley you can see why the small town of Civitella del Tronto achieved fame over the centuries for withstanding invading armies. It held out against the French in 1557 and again in 1806 it stood firm for four months in defiance of the Marshall of the Empire and Napoleon’s brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, who shortly afterwards was to become King of Naples.
With an Irish mercenary named Matthew Wade as their commander, 300 men stood against the might of Napoleon. At the end of the siege Wade survived years of imprisonment and after the final defeat of France in 1815 when the Bourbons were restored to power he earned himself a promotion, a comfortable retirement and a neoclassical marble monument in Civitella del Tronto that remains today.
Half a century later the town’s steadfast loyalty to its Bourbon rulers ensured that it became the very last part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to surrender to the Piedmontese after a five month siege that didn’t ultimately end until March 20 1861, three days after the Unification of Italy had been formally ratified.
This magnificent structure was then bombarded by the army of King Vittorio Emanuele II to dissuade further resistance, proving once again that Italian Unification was not the popular uprising mythologized by its political architects as akin to the American revolution, but rather a Piemontese invasion and subjugation, especially with regard to of the people of the mezzogiorno. The actions taken over the following decades were to prove that the instincts of the stubborn Abbruzzesi of Civitella del Tronto to resist the King of Savoy had been correct in 1861.
After the surrender of Civitella the monument to Matthew Wade was stolen by the Piemontese troops to take back to Turin, believing it to be the work of the famous sculptor Antonio Canova, but on discovering their error on their return journey they abandoned it in Ancona where it languished for 15 years before being restored to its rightful place in Civitella.
The fortress towers over Civitella del Tronto and the sheer scale of it is surprising for such a small town, in fact it is one of the largest in Europe covering about 6 acres which places it just behind Edinburgh Castle. However it has a much flatter profile on the skyline than most forts of its size because its natural elevated location didn’t require a typical castle construction and also because of the unnecessary bombardment it suffered in 1861.
However there is a lot left to see today and the panoramic views also make it well worth the steep uphill walk to get there; as you pass through the deliberately narrow alleyways (above right) you realize how difficult it was to assault the fortress without losing soldiers one by one as they emerged from these passages.
There is one alleyway in Civitella, Via della Ruetta, that claims to be the narrowest in Italy at under 16 inches wide but this seems to be a very competitive category these days in Italy and two other towns not far away, Ripatransone in le Marche and Termoli in Molise, both also lay claim to this title. I'll let someone else measure them all.
The original structure of the fortress from 800 years ago was expanded upon to include everything required to survive a long siege including five water cisterns, large underground storage rooms for food and ammunition, stables, embattlements with clear sight lines over the approaches to town, three separate parade grounds and lots of accommodation including the Governor’s palace which is now just ruins. There is also a military museum in the fort containing weapons and maps dating back to the 15th century.
Below the fortress the town of Civitella is quite compact and as with just about all the other places in Abruzzo I’ve written about, it too has seen its population halve since WW2 to less than 5,000 today. It may seem remote due to its location on the edge of the Gran Sasso National Park but in fact it is only 12 miles south of the cosmopolitan city of Ascoli Piceno and a similar distance north of the provincial capital of Teramo, both of which have populations of around 50,000.
The plaque below speaks of the nobility of the cause of the defenders of Civitella where their loyalty, allegiance and honor was paid for in bravery and blood. The quotation marks around "condemned by history" make it a real statement of defiance and it echos the same sentiments written on the Tavola dei Briganti high up on the Majella Massif.
The Tavola dei Briganti is a large flat area of engraved rocks at almost 7,000 feet at the foot of Monte Cavallo where shepherds and brigands left their names and thoughts.
The best known of the inscriptions attributed to the brigands reads “nel 1820 nacque Vittorio Emanuele II re d’Italia. Prima era il regno dei fiori ora è il regno della miseria". Translated as "in 1820 Vittorio Emanuele II, king of Italy, was born. Before it was the kingdom of flowers, now it is the kingdom of misery".
Kutembea karibu na ngome kubwa iliyoko juu ya mwamba mita 1,600 juu ya bonde la mto Tronto unaweza kuona ni kwa nini mji mdogo wa Civitella del Tronto ulipata umaarufu kwa karne nyingi kwa kukabiliana na majeshi ya uvamizi. Alishinda vita dhidi ya Ufaransa mwaka 1557 na tena mwaka 1806 alisimama imara kwa miezi minne kwa kupinga Marshal wa Milki na Napoleon ndugu-katika-sheria, Joachim Murat, ambaye muda mfupi baadaye alikuwa kuwa Mfalme wa Naples. Kwa kuwa askari-jeshi wa Ireland, Matthew Wade, alikuwa kamanda wao, wanaume 300 walimkabili Napoleon. Baada ya miaka kadhaa ya kifungo, Wade aliokoka, na baada ya kushindwa kwa Ufaransa mwaka 1815 wakati Bourbon waliporudishwa madarakani, alijipatia kukuza, kustaafu kwa starehe na mnara wa ukumbusho wa marumaru wa neoclassical huko Civitella del Tronto. Baada ya nusu karne, uaminifu wa mji kwa watawala wake wa Bourbon ulihakikisha kuwa sehemu ya mwisho ya Ufalme wa Sicily mbili kujisalimisha kwa Piedmontese baada ya kuzingirwa kwa miezi mitano ambayo hatimaye haikukamilika hadi Machi 20, 1861, siku tatu baada ya kuunganishwa kwa Italia. "Mafalme wa Italia, Vittorio Emanuele II na Maria wa Roma, walipiga risasi kwa mara ya kwanza, na kuimarisha imani ya watu wa Italia kwamba ""Umoja wa Italia haukuwa uasi wa watu ambao walijenga hadithi za kihistoria kama vile Mapinduzi ya Amerika, bali uvamizi wa Piemonte na ushindi, hasa kwa watu wa Mezzogiorno.""" Katika miaka ya baadaye, Abruzzi waliamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua kuamua. Baada ya kujisalimisha kwa Civitella, mnara wa ukumbusho wa Matthew Wade ulifanywa na askari wa Piedmont ili kuupeleka Turin, wakiamini kuwa ni kazi ya mchongaji maarufu Antonio Canova, lakini walipotambua kosa lao katika safari yao ya kurudi waliacha huko Ancona ambapo ilichakaa kwa miaka 15 kabla ya kurudishwa mahali pake sahihi huko Civitella. Ngome ya Civitella del Tronto ni moja ya ngome kubwa zaidi ya Ulaya, na ina eneo la ekari 6 na iko nyuma ya Edinburgh Castle. Hata hivyo, ina profile flatter sana juu ya skyline kuliko ngome wengi wa ukubwa wake kwa sababu ya eneo lake asili elevated hakuhitaji ujenzi wa ngome ya kawaida na pia kwa sababu ya mabomu ya ziada aliteseka katika 1861. Hata hivyo, kuna mengi ya kushoto kuona leo na panoramic maoni pia kufanya ni vizuri thamani ya mwinuko mwinuko kutembea kupata huko; kama wewe kupita kupitia vijia makusudi nyembamba (juu kulia) wewe kutambua jinsi vigumu ilikuwa kushambulia ngome bila kupoteza askari mmoja kwa mmoja kama wao alitoka katika njia hizi. Via della Ruta, barabara ya Civitella, ni moja ya barabara ndogo zaidi nchini Italia, lakini inaonekana kuwa na ushindani mkubwa katika maeneo ya Italia na miji mingine miwili, Ripatransone huko Marche na Termoli huko Molise, pia wanadai kuwa na jina hilo. Nitawaacha wengine wapime yote. Jengo hilo la kale lilijengwa miaka 800 iliyopita na kujumuisha vitu vyote vinavyohitajika ili kuokoka kuzingirwa kwa muda mrefu, ikiwa ni pamoja na mabwawa matano ya maji, vyumba vikubwa vya kuhifadhi chakula na risasi, vibanda, vyumba vya vita vyenye maono ya wazi juu ya njia za mji, viwanja vitatu vya kupanda na makazi mengi, ikiwa ni pamoja na jumba la gavana. Jumba la makumbusho la kijeshi la kihistoria lina silaha na ramani za karne ya 15. Chini ya ngome, mji wa Civitella ni compact kabisa na kama tu kuhusu maeneo mengine yote katika Abruzzo nimeandika kuhusu, pia ameona idadi ya watu wake nusu tangu WW2 kwa chini ya 5,000 leo. Inaonekana mbali kwa sababu ya eneo lake kwenye ukingo wa Hifadhi ya Taifa ya Gran Sasso, lakini kwa kweli ni maili 12 tu kusini mwa mji wa Ascoli Piceno na umbali sawa kaskazini mwa mji mkuu wa mkoa wa Teramo, wote ambao una idadi ya watu karibu 50,000. Bamba la ukumbusho la chini linazungumzia juu ya heshima ya sababu ya watetezi wa Civitella ambapo uaminifu wao, uaminifu na heshima ililipwa kwa ujasiri na damu. "Masharti ya ""kuhukumiwa na historia"" hufanya taarifa ya kweli ya upinzani na inaonyesha hisia sawa zilizoandikwa kwenye Tavola dei Briganti juu juu ya Majella Massif." "Tavola dei Briganti ni eneo kubwa la tambarare la miamba iliyochongwa karibu mita 7,000 chini ya Monte Cavallo ambapo wachungaji na maharamia waliacha majina na mawazo yao.""" Maandishi maarufu zaidi yanayohusishwa na maharamia hayo yanasoma <unk>nel 1820 nacque Vittorio Emanuele II re d<unk>Italia. Prima era il regno dei fiori ora è il regno della miseria". (Ufalme wa Maua ni enzi ya kwanza) "Kama ilivyoandikwa katika kitabu cha Matendo ya Mitume, ""Vittorio Emanuele wa Pili, mfalme wa Italia, alizaliwa mwaka wa 1820.""" Kabla ya hapo ilikuwa ufalme wa maua, sasa ni ufalme wa taabu".