Malaspina Castle
Encyclopedia
44.032224°N 10.14603°W
The Malaspina Castle is located in Massa
, Italy
. It crowns the top of a rocky hill and dominates the wide underlying plain and part of the Tyrrhenian
coast. From the 17th century the main purpose of the castle was military and it served as a prison until 1946. The castle was subsequently restored and reopened to the public.
. The castle became the seat of the marquises of Massa. It was visited by Dante Alighieri
, who supposedly envisioned the descending circles of Hell, that inspired the corresponding part of his Divine Comedy. According to legend, Dante saw the great funnel-shaped cave lying below, surrounded by a series of ledges with the slopes converging to the stream.
The Malaspina Castle is located in Massa
Massa
Massa is a town and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, the administrative centre of the province of Massa-Carrara. It is located in the Frigido River Valley, near the Alpi Apuane, some 5 kilometers from the Tyrrhenian Sea....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It crowns the top of a rocky hill and dominates the wide underlying plain and part of the Tyrrhenian
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
coast. From the 17th century the main purpose of the castle was military and it served as a prison until 1946. The castle was subsequently restored and reopened to the public.
History
The first record on castle dates back to 1164. In 1269 because of political discords with local inhabitants it was leveled to the ground by the army of the nearby city of LuccaLucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
. The castle became the seat of the marquises of Massa. It was visited by Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
, who supposedly envisioned the descending circles of Hell, that inspired the corresponding part of his Divine Comedy. According to legend, Dante saw the great funnel-shaped cave lying below, surrounded by a series of ledges with the slopes converging to the stream.