The Castle of Roseto, above the Ionian Sea at Roseto Capo Spulico, Calabria, Italy, was founded in the 1000s AD by Robert Guiscard, Duke of Sicily. It was seized in 1229 from the Knights Templar by Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, who strengthened it for use as a summer residence. The current structure is mostly 1500s or later, but it retains three towers and a ground plan based on the Temple of Jerusalem. Older remains include a carved Seal of Solomon and an ancient oval stone engraved with symbols of Christ’s Passion. The castle now houses a museum and a restaurant.
Roseto Capo Spulico, Cosenza Province, Calabria, Italy: the restored medieval Castle of Roseto, also known as the Castrum Petrae Roseti, Castello della Pietra di Roseto or Castello Fredericiano, was founded between 1058 and 1085 by the Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard, Duke of Sicily. The cliff-top site overlooking the Ionian Sea and Gulf of Taranto was once occupied by an ancient temple of Venus and the castle was built on the ruins of a later Christian monastery. In 1229 the site was seized from the Roman Catholic military order, the Knights Templar, by Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II Hohenstaufen. He rebuilt it as a strong fortress, used it as a summer residence and left it to his only legitimate son. According to tradition, the Turin Shroud was kept here under guard during Frederick’s reign. The castle has been substantially rebuilt and although it retains three towers, the highest of them embattled, little of the current structure dates from before the 16th century. However, recent restoration has revealed older remains and the fortress retains its trapezoidal ground plan based on the Temple of Jerusalem. Other reminders of its time as a Templar outpost and as a sacred residence of Frederick II include religious carvings such as a representation of the Seal of Solomon and an ancient oval stone engraved with symbols of the Passion of Christ. The castle today houses an ethnographic museum and a restaurant.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Roseto Capo Spulico, Cosenza Province, Calabria, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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