The fortress of Mondragone

The fortress of Mondragone was built between the eighth and ninth centuries by veterans of the city of Sinuessa that since the end of the second century began to decline due to a crisis in agriculture and 375 suffered enormous damages as a result of a catastrophic earthquake ; survivors , also to find escape from the continuous barbaric invasions, took refuge on the slopes of Mount Petrino , where they built a fortified village and the Rock Petrina.Le encroachments continued throughout the Middle Ages and the city exhausted by the countless attacks was reduced to a miserable village . At the beginning of the eleventh century made ​​their appearance the Normans who occupied the ancient Roman village Petrinum and widened the fortification of the fortress .
The original structure of this building is not the same today that you can imagine observing the ruins still exist. The towers that still glimpsed , some square , some round , lead us to think that they were built at different times and no doubt there was already an old building before they realized the imposing fortress. There are traces of Etruscan remains of buildings and even Roman . The architectural lines make us infer that it is a building built between the High and Late Middle Ages , and which has undergone changes over the centuries . The current castle is a massive square building consists of two floors resting on the steep part of the mountain, with its foundations that follow the rolling rock. The main entrance was located to the west. At present the castle is reduced to ruins of which over time will disappear permanently .