Castello di Giulio II

The triangular brick fortress on Piazza della Rocca, with three corner towers joined by a single wall-walk, a perimeter of casemates, a rivellino and a wide moat once fed from the Tiber. The operator gives it as open Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30 to 16.30 from 1 November to the end of February, 10.30 to 19.30 from 1 March to 15 June and 13.30 to 19.30 from 16 June to 31 October, with last entry thirty minutes before closing; closed Mondays, 25 December and 1 January. Admission is 6.00 euro full and 2.00 euro reduced for EU citizens aged 18 to 25, and it is covered by the 18.00 euro integrated ticket. Restoration, consolidation and enhancement works are under way, and the operator states that the castle stays open on its usual hours during them, with panels explaining the work. The exhibition IN HOC SIGNO. Testimonianze cristiane tra Ostia e Porto runs until 21 November 2026.

History

Work began in 1483 at the expense of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, later Julius II, and was completed in 1486. Roma Capitale records that the inscription on the courtyard portal names the Florentine architect Baccio Pontelli; Vasari attributed the design to Giuliano da Sangallo, and other historians have proposed Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The fortress absorbed the tower Martin V had built, dated by it.wikipedia to 1423 and 1424, which is the larger, many-sided one of its three corner towers; the other two are round. The walls are brick, low, thick and battered. The monumental staircase was frescoed with the myth of Hercules, attributed to Baldassarre Peruzzi. The castle's customs role passed to Tor Boacciana in 1562 and then to Tor San Michele in 1568, and it.wikipedia records that the building was used in the nineteenth century as a prison for convicts sentenced to forced labour.

History

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