Discover Rocca Maggiore, Assisi

Last updated on October 27, 2026

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Checked against Wikipedia — In 1458 the Perugian condottiero and lord of Assisi Jacopo Piccinino had the north-western polygonal tower built, afterwards completed by pope Pius II and connected to the rest of the walls by a fortified and reinforced corridor. The complex of the rocca consists of a circuit of walls, made with the pink stone of monte Subasio, in the form of a trapezium, with towers at every corner, enclosing the quadrangular keep-block, restructured in 1478 by Sixtus V, above which rises the powerful mastio. The interior of the fortress is entered through the round bastion made in 1535 by Paul III Farnese; one then reaches the vast walled courtyard, where the service rooms once were, and the keep, formerly the castellan's dwelling, divided into four rooms reached by a spiral staircase. The rocca Maggiore joins, by way of the fourteenth-century walls, the rocca Minore, or rocchetta, or cassero of Sant'Antonio, wanted by Albornoz in 1360 in order to consolidate, towards the mountain, that part of the fortification., The rocca Maggiore has dominated the citadel of Assisi and the valley of the Tescio for more than eight hundred years, constituting the most effective fortification for their defence. The fortress can be reached on foot through the porta Perlici, raised in 1316. The first documented notices concerning the fortilice go back to 1173, when the German archbishop and diplomat Christian of Mainz, chancellor of Germany during the reign of the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, occupied Assisi on behalf of the sovereign. The future king of Sicily and emperor Frederick II of Swabia also resided there, entrusted by his mother Constance of Hauteville to the duchess of Urslingen, wife of the duke of Spoleto and comes of Assisi Conrad. In 1198 the city passed to the Guelph party of pope Innocent III and the people, causing great damage to the fortress, drove out the imperial legate with Frederick, who was then only four years old. In that year Francis of Assisi was sixteen. The rocca was rebuilt, respecting the medieval layout, in 1356, on the initiative of cardinal Egidio Albornoz, charged by Innocent VI from Avignon with consolidating the fortifications of the Papal State. (October 2026).
Checked against Visit Assisi — official tourism site of the Comune di Assisi — On the summit of the Colle Asio, at 500 metres of altitude, rises the Rocca Maggiore of Assisi. It is probable that already in the ancient period, from the fourth to third century BC, there were Umbrian settlements, but the first certain notices of a military fortification go back to 1174, when the city was occupied by the Swabian dynasty on behalf of the emperor Frederick I, Barbarossa. Following the bloody revolt of 1198 by the people of Assisi, in which a young Francis also took part, the fortress was razed to the ground as a symbol of imperial oppression over the city. The monument seen today is therefore the fruit of a fourteenth-century reconstruction conceived by cardinal and papal legate Egidio Alvarez de Albornoz who, charged by Pope Innocent IV, had numerous military fortresses built, called for that reason "Albornozian fortresses". In later years there were further additions, among them the raising of the Mastio by Biordo Michelotti. Finally, in 1535, Paul III had a circular bastion added beside the entrance, in the attempt to lessen the effects of enemy artillery. (October 2026).

Discover Rocca Maggiore, Assisi

Architecture

The short history

How it was built and evolved over time

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Discover Rocca Maggiore, Assisi

Architecture

The short history

How it was built and evolved over time

Frequently asked questions

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