Piazza Emilio Caizzo

Piazza Emilio Caizzo is the principal square of Castelmezzano, set among stone houses beneath the sandstone formations of the Piccole Dolomiti Lucane. Since 1964 it has borne the name of Emilio Caizzo, a local soldier who died at Tobruk and was posthumously awarded Italy’s Gold Medal of Military Valor.

Why it matters

The square is a civic gathering place in the centre of Castelmezzano. Its open side frames the village’s steeply set houses and the surrounding rock formations. Its name commemorates Caizzo, born in Castelmezzano in 1920 and killed in action in North Africa in May 1941. The posthumous medal citation records his actions during the fighting at Tobruk.

What to notice

The square opens toward the village’s layered rooftops and the sandstone towers of the Piccole Dolomiti Lucane. The parish church of Santa Maria dell’Olmo stands on the piazza; regional tourism sources describe its local-stone Romanesque-style exterior and record a wooden Madonna statue, a fresco of San Rocco and a painting of the Holy Family by Giovanni De Gregorio, known as il Pietrafesa. The square’s dedication has commemorated Caizzo since November 1964.

Context and history

Castelmezzano developed on a crag between the castles of Pietrapertosa and Brindisi di Montagna. The municipality traces its name to Castrum Medianum, a Norman fortress, and records surviving curtain walls, a cistern and a rock-cut staircase. Emilio Caizzo was born in Castelmezzano on 15 April 1920. He served as a military engineer in the XXXII Battaglione Guastatori and was killed during the assault on fortified positions near Tobruk on 15–16 May 1941. His Gold Medal of Military Valor was awarded posthumously. A municipal commemoration in June 2022 renewed the square’s role as a place of remembrance.