The natural defense offered by Mount Antoniano, 805 meters high, suggests that the origins of a primitive wall date back to the time of Hungarian raids. The foundation of the castle is instead attributed to Atto Adalberto di Canossa. From the ninth century Carpineti is in fact mentioned in the sources, while in the eleventh century some documents mention it as the site of clashes.
In 1043 the Marquis Bonifacio di Canossa administered the castle, but it was Matilde who enhanced the entire complex.
Inside the fortification, equipped with a double order of walls, the countess ordered the construction of the Romanesque church dedicated to Sant’Andrea.
The fortress of Carpineti is elected as a privileged seat to host popes, emperors, kings and dukes while stipulating agreements on the fate of Italy.
In 1077 he welcomed Pope Gregory VII, fresh from the meeting of Canossa, while in 1082 he received the bishop of Lucca Anselmo.
In 1092 Matilda gathered in the castle of Carpineti anassembly of bishops, prelates and monks, intending to resolve the war against heretics.
The death of Matilda (1115) closes the most eventful period in the history of this castle, disputed between the Papacy and the Empire.
From 1117 the castle became the residence of several lords who succeeded each other in the government. In the last decades of the twelfth century the fortress of Carpineti underwent several assaults and more lords followed one another.
Among these also the legendary “bandit of the mountain” Domenico Amorotto. The precarious and ruinous conditions in which the castle poured, after years of neglect and assaults, are accentuated by a fire suffered in 1944, following a German offensive.
The structure of the complex is referable to that of a ” castle-enclosure” with an irregular wall next to a trapezoid. At the end of the short southern side there is a small apsidal room that is configured as a round tower through which you entered the castle. Inside emerges the isolated tower with a square plan consisting of well-squared stone blocks. The windows with arched in the center, placed on the southern and western fronts and that on the northern façade, suggest a dating not later than the thirteenth century.
About four kilometers from the castle there is an oratory that recalls the ancient Pieve di S. Vitale delle Carpinete, restored by the Countess Matilde, of which traces of carved decorations remain. The church was also called ” San Vitale da Verabulo” by the homonymous Court that Beatrice, mother of Matilde, had donated in 1071 to the monastery of Frassinoro.
Of the castle remain mighty ruins dominated by a quadrangular tower ruined at the top. The complex of Carpineti is now constituted, in addition to the ruins of the castle, by the church of Sant’Andrea, consecrated in 1117 and used for weddings, exhibitions and events, the small cemetery and the village.
Nelland houses of the village are a small accommodation, a tavern and a restaurant. The Castle is one of the stages of the Via Matildica del Volto Santo.
The entire structure was restored from 1990 to early 1999 and an internal staircase leads to a belvedere which gives a breathtaking view of the Emilian Apennines.
For information on timetables and prices:
https://www.appenninoreggiano.it/it/scheda/castello-di-carpineti
