The Montegualtieri tower perched atop a hillock, along the northern flank of the Valle del Vomano. The knoll sticking with the characteristics of a promontory, a 260 m s.l.m., its un'ansa of Fiume, and welcomes this fortress that is known for its characteristic shape that rises from a triangular dominating the small town below to ovoid plan.
This fort, together in Castelbasso, Castellalto and Morro d'Oro, was an integral part of the network of optical communications for the defense of the territory and granted a valid and effective control system. It served primarily as a lookout station and connection in the defensive system.
The tower Montegualtieri, from its strategic location, see a wide panorama that stretches from the Adriatic coast to the mountains of the Gran Sasso. Along the valley dominated by the building passed the Salaria Caecilia and the road connecting the city of Ascoli Piceno, Teramo and Pens, considered among the most important roads and old-growth Abruzzo.
Architecture
The tower, High around 18 m, si erige solida, streamlined and austere by a triangular. The choice of the base was determined dall'economizzare the construction of a fourth wall, if he had adopted a more usual quadrangular, considering that it was sufficient, with only three sides, rise to functions useful to the sighting-walk which is strategically controlled the territory.
The triangular shape of this building is a rare example of tower. Throughout the Abruzzo, with the same stylistic features it includes only one other in Bussi sul Tirino: tower Sutrium.
The masonry of the article consists of quarry stone, local sandstone, worked to get the flat shape of regular bricks. The same have also been employed to make the curtain wall of the outer enclosure in which you can see, however, including some reworkings of uneven gravel and pebbles. The fort stretches from the embankment against the wall consolidated earth shoe and has a wall facing the village, while an edge and the other two faces are turned towards the river and the valley Vomano. From the base of the tower, also escarpment, of which each side measuring about 10 meters, the slopes are interrupted within about six, seven feet tall.
The fortification shows simple and tapering upwards. Its walls are opened from a single input, a nord, which is accessed by an external staircase. On the three sides there are small windows at the mouth of the wolf that measure 20 x 80 cm and slits 20 x 60 cm.
The end part is expanding with the piombatoi archers surmounted by parapet protection and each side ends with four Ghibelline battlements of taste dovetail.
ACCOGLIENZA NEI PRESSI DELLA TORRE DI MONTEGUALTIERI:
