Lettere Castle (Italy)

The Castle of Lettere was built by the Duchy of Amalfi during the 10th century to defend its northern borders and was part of a network of fortifications that ensured the Amalfi people control of the two sides of the Lattari mountains. The site, in fact, still enjoys a splendid panoramic position that allowed you to control the area from the port of Castellammare to the mouth of the Sarno and the entire Gulf of Naples, but also the Sarno Valley dominated by Vesuvius and the Sarno mountains up to in Pagani.

Since its foundation, the castle had the shape of a fortified village with multi-storey houses, as some documents from 1030 and 1033 tell us. The construction of the fortress, what we now call a castle, is probably connected with the settlement of a feudal lord. who built it as a place of residence within the walls and a symbol of his power. The building has a trapezoidal shape and retains four towers, the highest of which functions as a keep. Inside the walls, a cathedral was also built, which has been the seat of a bishopric since 987. The beautiful bell tower decorated with inlays in gray tuff and yellow sandstone forming stars, crosses and lozenges was attached to this first building in the 12th century.

Inside the Torre del Grano, so called because it was originally used as a storage environment, the Museum of the Archaeological Park of the Castle of Lettere is under construction, intended to house the finds found during the excavation campaigns carried out since 2007. such as pottery, bronze objects and many animal bones. The exhibits on display illustrate not only the food methods and the diet of the village between the 10th and 16th centuries, but also highlight the network of Mediterranean trades in which Lettere was inserted thanks to the routes managed by the Amalfi people, with transport containers and glazed ceramics. from Northern Africa, Spain and Sicily.