Resumen de Il castello di Cicala: analisi di un contesto fortificato sul limesdell’Ager nolanus in Campania
Giuseppe Mollo, Giuseppe Piccolo
The contribution aims to illustrate, in a preliminary way, the architectural and historical-artistic data deduced from the investigations carried out at the fortified site of Castel Cicala to the east of the city of Nola in Campania. A defensive structure already existing in the Lombard age overlapped a pre-existing settlement of the Roman age. The castle is mentioned for the first time in a document of the first half of the tenth century. It had probably entered, a few years earlier, the sphere of influence of the Neapolitan Byzantine duchy where it will remain until the conquest of the Normans. The numerous written sources from the beginning of the twelfth century allow us to retrace the history of the castle, its structure and the village through the centuries until today. The castle stands on the hill overlooking the town of Nola. The fortification occupies an area of about 40.000 square meters. The fortifications on the hill of Cicala are organized in three walls almost circular and concentric. The first wall, located on the top of the hill, encloses the main structure of the castle; the second incorporates the other structures of the castle located mainly to south and east. The third includes the sides of the hill and part of the current town of Cicala. The historical-architectural analysis of the remains of the fortification, helped through the support of SAPR systems, makes the reading of the site and the defensive structure of particular interest.
