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Rocca (fortification)
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<h2 id="examples">Examples</h2> <p>Specific examples show the range of structures that may be called a <i>rocca</i>: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Sanvitale,_Fontanellato/JtVzXk1R">Rocca Sanvitale</a>, began in the 13th century, mostly completed by the 15th century, is a remarkable fortress house in the <i><a href="/facts/Comune/Bxsc8IYY">comune</a></i> (municipality) of <a href="/facts/Fontanellato/U1ENVpMh">Fontanellato</a>, near <a href="/facts/Parma/q95VPYJF">Parma</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Flea/ekl85t9v">Rocca Flea</a> is a fortified <i><a href="/facts/Palace/vdve3MUs">palazzo</a></i> in the <i><a href="/facts/Comune/Bxsc8IYY">comune</a></i> of <a href="/facts/Gualdo_Tadino/XDhtfYxD">Gualdo Tadino</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Umbria/kU3sgXfT">Umbria</a> region.</li> <li>In <a href="/facts/Valletta/gfgJDaaQ">Valletta</a>, Malta, <a href="/facts/Casa_Rocca_Piccola/eMBQnocS">Casa Rocca Piccola</a> is one of the last remaining unconverted <i>palazzi</i>, that is still lived in today by a noble family.</li> <li>In Sardinia, the Rocca Doria, a stronghold of the <a href="/facts/Doria_(family)/X8MXenSd">Doria</a> of Genoa, gives its name to the commune <a href="/facts/Monteleone_Rocca_Doria/hbcFqrlU">Monteleone Rocca Doria</a>.</li></ul> <p>From the earliest stage, when church and <i>rocca</i> were the only stone structures,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> "the distinction between 'castles' and 'villages' is already one of degree rather than kind". (Ward-Perkins 1962:401). Their protective <i>rocca</i> has extended its name to many other small communities: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Roccacasale/Tb6Pj7r6">Roccacasale</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_L%27Aquila/gSMAst1J">province of L'Aquila</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Abruzzo/cV0UlVgu">Abruzzo</a> region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_di_Papa/4a5l8wub">Rocca di Papa</a> in the region called <i><a href="/facts/Roman_Castles/CVjDVlFo">Castelli Romani</a></i> in the hills surrounding <a href="/facts/Lazio/FxXUhtkJ">Lazio</a> has given its name to its <i>comune</i>. Twelfth-century documents name the Castrum Rocce de Papa ("Rock Castle of the Pope"), because here lived <a href="/facts/Pope_Eugene_III/UP3amgpj">Pope Eugene III</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Sinibalda/42r6pSok">Rocca Sinibalda</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Rieti/ybzNjsuK">province of Rieti</a>, in the Lazio region, located about 50 km northeast of <a href="/facts/Rome/bh1Ttx3T">Rome</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Canterano/D9tWDwXx">Rocca Canterano</a>, <a href="/facts/Rocca_Priora/GqWKeh0p">Rocca Priora</a>, <a href="/facts/Rocca_Massima/WvEExbKo">Rocca Massima</a>, <a href="/facts/Rocca_di_Cave/wRF9Xgrn">Rocca di Cave</a>, <a href="/facts/Rocca_Santo_Stefano/6jwU8N6B">Rocca Santo Stefano</a>, <a href="/facts/Rocca_d%27Arce/WApGLfjQ">Rocca d'Arce</a> are also <i>comuni</i> in the Lazio region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Grimalda/qgt4WV6m">Rocca Grimalda</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Alessandria/54sT7jJX">province of Alessandria</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Piedmont/K6f2ELPS">Piedmont</a> region; it was a nest of bandits in the eighteenth century. <a href="/facts/Rocca_Canavese/cw1MG1qd">Rocca Canavese</a>, <a href="/facts/Rocca_Cigli%C3%A8/26DNF4Xf">Rocca Cigliè</a>, <a href="/facts/Rocca_d%27Arazzo/qG5QE4p6">Rocca d'Arazzo</a>, <a href="/facts/Rocca_de%27_Baldi/bIdIDgrR">Rocca de' Baldi</a> are also <i>comuni</i> in the <a href="/facts/Piedmont/K6f2ELPS">Piedmont</a> region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Pietore/RkkhwMla">Rocca Pietore</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Belluno/MMcVas1C">province of Belluno</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Veneto/ejrBn3n0">Veneto</a> region</li> <li><a href="/facts/Roccaraso/zYKUNSFB">Roccaraso</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_L%27Aquila/gSMAst1J">province of L'Aquila</a>, in the Abruzzo region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Susella/N2CPVRPk">Rocca Susella</a> and <a href="/facts/Rocca_de%27_Giorgi/fnTHWRG3">Rocca de' Giorgi</a> are in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Pavia/AddH5Y9T">province of Pavia</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Lombardy/2p62Pxuc">Lombardy</a> region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_di_Manerba_del_Garda/PfquUsd4">Rocca di Manerba del Garda</a>, in the <i>comune</i> of <a href="/facts/Manerba_del_Garda/nveX4KIT">Manerba del Garda</a>, in the Lombardy region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Castelvecchio_di_Rocca_Barbena/8vAnQS6d">Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Savona/8CuGPQh5">province of Savona</a>, in the in <a href="/facts/Liguria/S5xt46pN">Liguria</a> region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_San_Casciano/kDvB2fer">Rocca San Casciano</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Forl%C3%AC-Cesena/zFrEY03y">province of Forlì-Cesena</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Emilia-Romagna/T4ag5xaR">Emilia-Romagna</a> region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_San_Giovanni/9amRSb1N">Rocca San Giovanni</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Chieti/1TmFSs82">province of Chieti</a>, in the Abruzzo region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_d%27Evandro/jdFLM50R">Rocca d'Evandro</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Caserta/6pQUMh73">province of Caserta</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Campania/Y5oa60Ej">Campania</a> region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Pia/QplqKBLQ">Rocca Pia</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_L%27Aquila/gSMAst1J">province of L'Aquila</a>, in the Abruzzo region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_Imperiale/cawtw9QJ">Rocca Imperiale</a> is a <i>comune</i> in the <a href="/facts/Province_of_Cosenza/Vn4JMjMB">province of Cosenza</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Calabria/n9602l3b">Calabria</a> region.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rocca_di_Urbisaglia/I2nLqe9C">Rocca di Urbisaglia</a> is a 16th-century military fortification in <a href="/facts/Urbisaglia/C38TX862">Urbisaglia</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Marche/LF2ngpIP">Marche</a> region.</li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>J.B. Ward-Perkins, "Etruscan Towns, Roman Roads and Medieval Villages: The Historical Geography of Southern Etruria", The Geographical Journal 128.4 (December 1962:389-404), pp. 399ff. Ward-Perkins notes the establishment of a villa of Roman pattern as late as ca 780, Pope Adrian I's recently rediscovered Domusculta Capracorum near Veii, which Ward-Perkins does not take as exceptional but as evidence "that the system of land tenure operating in the territory of Veii at the end of the eighth century was still one of villas and large, open estates on the late Roman model" (Ward-Perkins 1962:402); villages were carved out of the former estate in the tenth century. <a href="/wiki/Pope_Adrian_I" target="_blank">/wiki/Pope_Adrian_I</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Ward-Perkins 1962:401 points out that the familiar "medieval" character of surviving villages, with their cobbled streets and stone houses washed with colorful intonaco, upon examination are invariably structures built in the sixteenth century and later. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>