Castle of Santa Severa

The Castle of Santa Severa is a 14th century castle, located in the hamlet of Santa Severa in the municipality of Santa Marinella in Lazio. According to Christian tradition, it is on this site that the young Severa of Pyrgi, with her brothers Calendino and Marco, received her martyrdom on 5 June 298. The remains of an early Christian church dedicated to her are still visible in the Rocca square.

The castle was born around the 10th-11th century, and the first written reference is dated to 1068, the year in which the castle and the church were donated by Count Gerardo di Galeria to the abbey of Farfa, which in turn donated it in 1130. at the request of antipope Anacleto II, to the basilica of San Paolo fuori le mura.

Between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the castle passed to several noble families including the Orsini and the Anguillara. It was in this period that the rectangular plan developed with square corner towers connected by a bridge to the "Torre del Castello", a circular tower (dating from around the 9th century and renovated in the 16th-17th century).

Map: Castle of Santa Severa