Area archeologica della Celano medievale (Turris Caelani) sul Monte Sirente

The archaeological site of medieval Celano, known as Turris Caelani, occupies a shoulder of Monte Sirente above the modern town. Walls, towers, house foundations and the Fons Aurea spring trace the fortified settlement destroyed in 1223.

Why it matters

The site preserves the layout of a medieval county seat and the physical remains of its destruction under Frederick II. Celano's fortified hilltown was the stronghold of the Counts of the Marsica. After the settlement was destroyed and its people deported, the community was later re-established on the hill of San Flaviano, where the Piccolomini Castle stands today.

What to notice

The enclosure forms a rough triangle. Its eastern wall runs about 760 metres, the western wall about 650 metres, and the northern side about 400 metres. Small rompitratta towers interrupt the curtain walls. Terracing, house foundations and a cistern show how the plateau was occupied. The Fons Aurea spring lay within the fortified circuit, while an iron cross erected in 1934 marks the summit above the settlement.

Context and history

The hilltop town took shape in the tenth century under Count Berardo II around a tower known as the Turris Caelani. Count Tommaso later led resistance to Frederick II. The siege ended in April 1223; after Tommaso's surrender and exile, the town was destroyed and renamed Cesarea. In 1224 its inhabitants were deported to Malta; an imperial order released them in 1227. In 1247 Pope Innocent IV restored Tommaso's properties, and the community rebuilt on the hill of San Flaviano. The historic trail across the site was inaugurated during Celano's Anno Federiciano in 2023.