The Castello della Villa (Romeo) is a manor in the territory of Montecchio Maggiore (Vicenza - Italy).
Together with the Bellaguardia Castle, they are known respectively as Romeo Castle and Juliet's Castle.
The manors of reduced dimensions, are situated one to little distance from the other, in panoramic and strategic position, on a hill that dominates Montecchio Maggiore.
According to a legend that spread in the mid-nineteenth century, Luigi da Porto, in writing his recently found Historia (which actually inspired Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet), was inspired by the sight of two castles near and opposite, not far from his villa at Montorso Vicentino, hence the name given to them in recent times.
The Castello della Villa (or "di Romeo") is located at 234 meters above sea level, about three hundred meters from the other fortress. It presents an articulated and somewhat irregular plant, due to the necessary adaptation to the natural conformation of the land, close to the rocky overhang.
The entrance, located on the south side, was well protected by the corner tower, protruding from the walls, equipped with corbels and drains at its top, still visible today. The keep, similar to that of the other castle, is located at the north-west vertex, with one side inserted as a segment of the perimeter wall of the north side: its entrance placed a few meters higher than the ground level below, so as for the keep of Bellaguardia, it suggests the presence of some structures that could no longer be found leaning against the tower and at the same perimeter walls inside the castle.
Now the donjon is accessed via a staircase built during the restoration work.
Castle of the Villa, Castles of Romeo
Address: Via Castelli 4 Martiri, 721, 36075
Phone: 0444 705611
Site:
http://www.comune.montecchio-maggiore.vi.it/Location inserted by
CHO.earth