The castle of Gragnola The Castel del’Aquila, Eagle’s Castle, is an imposing fortified structure, defended on a hill dominanting the streams Lucido and Aulella. Perhaps it was built up by local noble families between the IX and X century, very likely the Bianchi of Erberia. The castle and its fiefs passed to Spinetta the Great in the period that coincided with its expansion in Eastern Lunigiana. The name “Castle dell’Aquila” first appeared in the testament of Marquis Antonio of Guglielmo Malaspina of Fosdinovo in 1374. The government of the Malaspina will be remembered above all for the cruelty and desire of expansion that did not save their own family. The Marquises of Gragnola ordered in 1418 the slaughters of the entire family of Marquises of Verrucola and Fivizzano in order to get hold of theirs fiefs. Only the little Spinetta survived, to which the castle was given back with the Medici family intervantion. Today, the castle is an imponent stone building undergoing a process of restoration, after the decline of the Marquises Malaspina and the devastating eartquake of 1920. It is characterised by a quadrilateral keep, with four storeys, three angular towers, the main access gate in the north-west one. Passing the entrance, a second gate, defended by a primitive barbican and two loopholes, leads to the inner ward. The castle has its own church. The castle will be reopened to the public.

More info:
The photos of the Castel dell'Aquila
The village of Gragnola

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