Castello Colonna

The Castello Colonna rises above Eboli on a hill between the Tufara and Tiranna streams. Founded over an earlier Lombard strongpoint, it was enlarged under Norman and Swabian rule and later restored by Antonio Colonna, whose family name the castle retains.

Why it matters

The castle’s position overlooks the Sele plain and routes through the surrounding valleys. It became a royal residence under Frederick II and hosted a General Parliament of the realm in 1290. The fortress later passed among major southern Italian families before its current use as a district prison. Its history reflects Eboli’s political importance from the Norman period through the feudal era.

What to notice

The irregular plan records successive building phases. A document of 1640 describes four towers: two square Norman towers and two cylindrical Swabian towers on the western side. The south-west tower has narrow arrow slits and masonry associated with the twelfth century. The north-west circular tower, built from local stone in stepped courses, is considered a likely Swabian donjon. On the north-east flank, the original entrance lies between two half-towers, near a second gate formerly fitted with a drawbridge. The south-western side also preserves traces of late-fifteenth-century outworks.

Context and history

The earliest surviving reference to the castle appears in an eleventh-century donation by Countess Urania. Reconstruction began in the second half of the eleventh century, probably under Guglielmo d’Altavilla. Frederick II’s 1231 statute for castle repairs lists Eboli as an imperial residence used for hunting and rest. In 1290, a General Parliament met at the fortress under Carlo Martello. Queen Giovanna II later granted the fief to Antonio Colonna, whose fifteenth-century restoration gave the castle its present name. The estate then passed through the Sanseverino, Gomez de Silva, Grimaldi and Doria d’Angri families before feudalism was abolished in the nineteenth century.