Castel Terracena

Roberto il GuiscardoHe conquered Salerno by founding a new dynasty, no longer Lombard, but Norman and, perhaps in homage to his wife, the PrincessSichelga, he built a newReggia that replacedPalazzo San Massimo and Palazzo d’Arechi, ancient residences of the lords of the city.

Salerno was the capital of a domain that stretched over the entire Mezzogiorno, and before the conquest of Sicily, it was the city from which the new Norman duchy was governed, which would soon become the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The Reggia had to be up to the role that the city and its lords played. Unfortunately the traces ofCastel Terracenaare few today, but they make the splendor of the palace, surely withmilitary purposes– this is why the name of Castello – near theCathedral that the Guiscardo had wanted to build.

The building period is between 1076 and 1080. It was close to the eastern walls of Salerno, on the top of a hill, to the east of the Cathedral and also close to theComplex of San Benedetto, which constituted the religious constriction of secular rule.

Today of the complex, which covered an area that went from the presentArchaeological Museumto almostCathedral, are clearly recognizable sometowers decorated in “tarsie”of yellow and grey tuff, which had a recent restoration, which has valued them. Thewindows are animated by bandswith various motifs, some with geometric pattern other more complex.

The Palace was probably destroyed by a terrible earthquake in the 13th century and was later incorporated into new buildings.