CASTELLO DI LAGOPESOLE

On the road from Potenza to Vulture lies the most mysterious and magical of the castles of Frederick II. Less well known than Melfi, the castle of Lagopesole is strongly imbued with the spirit of the great Swabian emperor, who built it and lived there from 1242 until his death in 1250. Situated on the road leading to Puglia, it was his hunting ground and a peaceful place of rest. It was built on the site of another fortress which, in 1137, was the scene of the reconciliation between Pope Innocent II and Abbot Rinaldo of Montecassino, in the presence of Lothario of Saxony, during the war against Roger the Norman. As for Frederick II's castle, it was later the residence of Charles of Anjou, who also had Helena, the second wife of Manfred of Sicily, imprisoned there (the queen's spirit is said to still haunt the place!). In 1416, it became the property of the Caracciolo family, as did Melfi. Given by Charles V to the Doria family in 1531, it was then temporarily transformed into a museum and became an emblem of the history and soul of Lucania. A second part of the castle dedicated to the life of Frederick II opened to the public in 2014, offering then an even more complete discovery of the site. The castle has a rectangular plan and four corner towers. A curtain wall divides the interior space into two parts: the first, older, with a keep; the second, composed of a cortile surrounded by three wings and on which a chapel opens.