Venafro, Molise. The Pandone Castle Stock Photo

The Pandone di Venafro Castle was built on an original Samnite masonry to which a Roman fortification was subsequently superimposed. In the Lombard period, moreover, around the 10th century, a quadrangular enclosure with several towers was built in the same complex, the most visible of which is on the north side of the current castle. Immediately after the earthquake of 1349, the Angevins had three cylindrical towers and a moat added to the fortification. In 1443 Francesco Pandone obtained the castle directly from Alfonso of Aragon, who gave it to him together with the County of Venafro. The Pandone immediately began work on a protected walkway for the guards that connected the two entrances to the castle, which in turn were secured with two drawbridges today, however, fixed. In the same way the cistern and the relative rainwater collection mechanism were restructured.