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Castrum di Castiglione in Palombara Sabina: the Savelli fortress in the Lucretili Mountains
The Castrum di Castiglione is an abandoned medieval fortification in the Lucretili Mountains Regional Natural Park. It was built by the powerful Savelli family on a hilltop in the Lucretili mountain range, in a commanding position over Palombara Sabina, one of the properties in their feudal domain. Today, thick walls peek out from the vegetation, and a trail winds through the woods among travertine sculptures and traces of wolves.
A trail between art and blossoms
Those climbing up to Castiglione will walk through a permanent open-air exhibition of contemporary travertine sculpture, scattered along the path and in the woods. In spring the landscape is transformed: Judas trees, broom bushes, and above all the Styrax Officinalis (snowdrop bush), the park's symbol, a plant originally from the Balkans that migrated to the Sabina region. Its intense fragrance can only be experienced here and in the nearby Monte Catillo Natural Reserve, near Tivoli.
Walls, a keep, and Roman traces
At the end of the trail, the medieval walls still appear intact: inside the walls are the keep and the structures where the Savelli's tenant farmers lived. Further down, at the foot of the hill, polygonal walls from the Roman era emerge — built long before the castrum. From here, dozens of medieval villages spread around the valley come into view, dominated by the ruins of many castles.
