Roccasecca

Like a sentinel at the entrance to two gorges giving access to the Comino Valley, Roccasecca easily controls the wide Liri Valley.

Inhabited since prehistoric times, as the remains of perimeter walls testify, it owes its foundation to the barbarian invasions when the inhabitants of the settlements on the Melfa River and nearby Aquino left the plains to escape the invaders.

Roccasecca was probably already a convenient crossing point in Roman times, as seen by the remains of the three bridges over the river, but it was in the Middle Ages that the community saw its real development.

Founded in 994 by Abbot Mansone to defend the monastery of Montecassino, it was donated to a branch of the Counts D'Aquino family and then came to the D'Avalos family following the marriage between the last descendant of the Counts D'Aquino, Antonella, and Inico d'Avalos.

The village saw the Angevins, Papal States and the Aragonese come to power, acquiring some peace and serenity under the Duke of Sora Giacomo Boncompagni, who made it his fiefdom in 1583. A century later, it became part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy.

Not to be missed:

the Church of St Thomas Aquinas at the Castle built in the 14th century (1325) in honour of the saint just below the fortified garrison, retaining the Gothic Latin cross plan, with 15th-century frescoes;

The 15th century Collegiate Church of the Santissima Annunziata, rebuilt in 1750;

the rock church of St Michael Archangel, standing at the foot of the cliff where the castle was built.