Masseria Castello

This is a fortress that never saw a siege. Masseria Castello is a rectangular block of stone and brick, a single, solid structure composed of six structural modules, the easternmost of which rises an extra storey, reached by an internal wooden ladder. It is a farm-fortress, a practical building of the Italian countryside, where the ground floor was a sheepfold and the upper floor a seasonal dwelling for shepherds.

Inside the ovile, the sequence of three masonry arches is the real surprise: they double as the roof trusses, a clever, characterful piece of vernacular engineering. The main façade has a brick arched doorway, topped by a circular oculus; the north side offers two stable entrances, the south a single door and three rectangular windows. On the rear, a lowered arch and its window above have been walled up, leaving the building in a state of honest, unpretentious silence.

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