Top of the World
On the highest point of the splendid medieval village of Tolfa, there are the ruins of the Castle of the Rocca, built at the behest of the Frangipane family who settled in the territory of Tolfa in the fourteenth century AD. The via della Rocca, the path to the top of the hill, completely uphill, is particularly suggestive. Through the narrow streets of the ancient village of Tolfa, you will pleasantly reach the top, surrounded by the pretty gardens of the surrounding houses. We can guarantee that once you reach the top, the magnificent panorama that will open up before you will erase all traces of fatigue and sweat from your forehead! The history of the Rocca is inevitably linked to that of Tolfa. Initially conceived as a castle, residence of the Frangipane family, in the course of time, thanks to its dominant position, it became both a control tower and a shooting range, even hosting a small cemetery during the XIX century. Tolfa developed around a fortress in the year 1000. From an act of submission to Corneto (today's Tarquinia) it seems that the castle and the surrounding village was called Tolfavecchia or Tulfa Veteris, to distinguish it from another castle not far away that was called Tolfanova. In 1448, it passed to the branch of the ancient Frangipane family, who renovated the castle. In 1461, after the discovery of the nearby alum quarries, the territory of Tolfa became the object of strong disputes. In 1469 Pope Paul II bought the whole feud and from that moment on the castellans were appointed by the Pope. At the beginning of the 16th century, after a Sienese nobleman named Agostino Chigi stripped it of its artillery (transferred to Porto Ercole and Talamone), the maintenance of the castle also stopped, with the consequent decay. Last bastion of defense for many centuries, the fortress was able to protect the people of Tolfetta from the Napoleonic army. It resisted, in fact, the invasion of the French in 1798, representing the last defensive bulwark until March 14, 1799 when it was finally destroyed, along with most of the medieval houses of the country. Locked in the ruins of the old castle, the Tolfetani who rebelled against the French invaders were called brigands. Today, the Rocca looks like a typical medieval fortress. Of the original castle remains only the cylindrical donjon, protected inside the embattled walls, and part of the central body that it is assumed was at least three floors high. It is possible to recognize the presence of a basement with loopholes, a large central hall on the ground floor, covered with a cross vault, and a floor above, which can be hypothesized from some inserts at the top of the outer wall.
