Castle of upper Campello

It overlooks the valley with its mighty spiral structure; anyone travelling along the Flaminian Way do notice this rather peculiar hamlet, either because of the shape of its walls, its truly strategic position, or because of the olive trees surrounding it as if in an embrace. According to legend, the origins of Campello date back to tenth century and, in particular, to 921 A.D., when Rovero di Champeaux, Baron of Burgundy, who came from Reims to Italy in the retinue of Duke Guido di Spoleto, was confirmed as its by Emperor Lamberto, who granted him the fief called “Gualdi Ranieri”, along with eight villages. The castle is the oldest inhabited settlement in the area, and its history is marked by turmoil and disputes until 1569, when the community, which until then governed by everchanging customs and traditions, adopted a statute: 35 parchments defining the rules for civil and religious coexistence, festivals, public hygiene, wood cutting, grape harvesting, livestock farming and taxes.
Once up here, following the winding roads through olive groves and elm trees, the castle welcomes us in all its authenticity, an ancient sentinel of the green Spoleto plain. Its almost intact elliptical shape makes it unique: the perimeter is about 500 metres and the walls, once culminating in Guelph merlons, were once defended by deep moats. Remains of embrasures, stone corbels and arches and windows belonging to the houses that stood against the walls are visible. It is precisely the structure of the walls, so well preserved, that allows the complex to maintain the compact appearance typical of a medieval castle, made even more suggestive by its isolated position in a landscape of extraordinary charm.
Once through the medieval gateway, immediately to the left we find the residence of the feudal lords, to the right the small palace of the guardhouse and in front of it the simple church of St. Donato, reworked several times, which opens onto a charming little square paved with the typical cobblestones of the area, small medieval stone houses huddle together, everything is white and pink, tiny silent alleys await us to relive the charm of times gone by.