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Castle of Longi

The castle represents the unique evidence that can give us some news about the foundation of Longi. Only from the archaeological excavations inside its walls and in the surrounding area, we could get some information about the precise period of construction of the village, even if from the historical events of the Lancia family, the first landowners, we presume that Longi foundation was towards the end of the first millennium near an Arab stronghold. Towards the half of the XII century the Normans probably expanded this stronghold. At present the owner of the castle is the bank “Banca di Credito Cooperativo” of the Fitalia valley. The castle has an architectural structure that almost completely dominates the surrounding houses. It seems a fortified palace. There are no towers so it is more like a civil rather than a military building, and it actually made the baronial residence of Lancia family more respectable and comfortable as long as the 1658. The analysis of the still existing wall paintings and of the remaining structure has revealed that the whole building was completely restored near the end of 1700. This is evident in the alcove typical of the XVIII century, in the naturalistic and archaeological subjects of the wall paintings, in the painted floor bricks, in the furniture, in the doors etc.. All the ground floor, which once hosted storehouses, sheds and the servants’ rooms, now hosts the offices of Banca di Credito Cooperativo. A single flights great staircase, in a trapezoidal courtyard, leads to the first floor, or noble floor, that hosts a lot of rooms among which the most important has a cross vault. In the centre there’s a great medallion portraying S. Caterina kneeled in front of the king seated in his throne. In the door of this room there are pictures of people dressed according to the style of 1700. Above this frame there’s a wooden heraldic coat of arms portraying a lily and on both sides two stars. From the analysis of the surface of the structures, three or even four different phases can be found dating back to different moments of work. The last unfinished renovations date back to the end of XIX century