The Rocca Castle Calascio is a rocca, or mountaintop stronghold, located in the Italian province of Abruzzo. Situated approximately 1,460 meters above sea level, the castle is the tallest fortification in the Apennines. Constructed using stone and masonry solely for military objectives, the stronghold overlooks the Plain of Navelli from one of the highest locations in the historic Barony of Carapelle. It was never meant to serve as a house for nobility. With just one watchtower, the construction of the fortress got underway in the tenth century. The thirteenth century saw the addition of a walled courtyard surrounded by a higher inner tower and four cylindrical towers at each corner. The lower half of the fortress was constructed using notably larger stones than its upper half. This feature is thought to have been designed to prevent invaders from accessing the base. There was never a combat test for the fortification. However, an earthquake estimated to have been between a 7 and an 8 on the Richter Scale severely devastated it in November of 1461. The fortress was not rebuilt, although the village below it, called Calascio, did. Beside the elevated plain of Campo Imperatore, in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, is the Castle of Rocca Calascio. The seventeenth-century, octagonal Santa Maria della Pietà church is located next to the fortification at a little lower elevation
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[Wikipedia-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_Rocca_Calascio ]
[Image : The difference between the larger stones of the lower part of the Castle of Rocca Calascio and the smaller stones of upper structure is clearly visible; ; Wikipedia-Image-Author : Renano]
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[Wikipedia-Image-Source-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rocca_Calascio_3.jpg ]
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