Description of the attraction
Castle Castello di Montegiordano rises in Piano delle Rose above the popular seaside resort Marina di Monteggioradno. It was built in the 17th century for the Pignone del Carretto as a winter and hunting residence. Around the lovely gravelled courtyard are several structures that once housed stables and warehouses. In the center of the courtyard itself, you can see a well. A staircase with a semicircular arch leads to the inside of the castle. The former ancestral chapel of the Madonna del Carmine stands a little to the side of the castle. This abandoned and dilapidated chapel was built in the last century to replace another, older one, which, in turn, also replaced the ancient chapel. These rebuildings were caused by constant shedding of the earth, with the result that the current Madonna del Carmine stands much further north of the castle than the original structure.
According to some scientists-archaeologists in the town of Piano delle Rose there were once the monastery of Santa Anania and the castle of Petra Cechi, which are marked on the map of 1015. Both buildings belonged to the Church of San Pietro di Bragalla, located near Oriolo. In one of the historical documents, it is said about the transfer of the above-named castle to the abbot of the Santa Anania monastery, so that in the event of an attack by Saracen pirates who raged off the coast of the Ionian Sea in the 10-11th centuries, the local population and monks could take refuge in it. This, incidentally, testifies to the fact that a settlement existed in Piano delle Rosa already in the 11th century. It turns out that the current 17th century castle was built on the site of an older fortress. In his 17th century chronicle, Giorgio Toscano mentions the castle, which "was once fortified and equipped with weapons and whose former power is now only reminded by the collapsed walls." In another treatise, Toscano speaks of the castle as the residence of Pignone del Carretto, who spent several months a year in it and enjoyed himself hunting.
