centro storico, collinare, lineare, difensivo, Corleto Monforte, Coryletum (denominazione originaria), Corneto (denominazione storica, dal 1000 ca al 1400 ca), Corleto (denominazione storica, dal XV sec. al 1862)

The old core of Corleto Monforte is a fortress without quite being a fortress. The medieval wall, built in the 11th century, was high and robust, but it never ran the full perimeter. Along what is now Via Forese, ‘outside the walls’, the natural rock bastion was deemed sheer enough to repel any assault. So the town was part wall, part cliff, a defensive logic carved from the landscape.

Within this circuit, the historic centre strings out for more than a kilometre, from the locality called Sciuvolo to ‘Capo delle armi’, the old first line of defence. Narrow lanes pass between centuries-old houses and ancient churches. At Piazza Diana, a temple to the goddess of the hunt once stood, smaller than the church of Santa Barbara that later replaced it. The bell tower, detached from the church, was built in 1825. Elsewhere stand the 1568 church of San Giovanni and the ruins of San Teodoro, whose foundations date to the 6th century. The place wears its long history in stone, not in show.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.