Rocca Maggiore, Assisi
The bleached yellow bones of this fortress glower high above the city, a reminder of the hated Cardinal Albornoz, who built the 14th-century version we see today to establish papal authority over Assisi. A young Frederick II, future Emperor of Swabia, spent his earliest childhood within the walls of the short-lived 12th-century fortress that stood here, on an Umbri burial site.
Beyond the circular rampart added in the 16th century by Pope Paul III, you can enter the outer walls to visit the recently restored keep and soldiers' quarters. A very long corridor lit by repeating arrow slits leads to a polygonal watchtower, with a panoramic view, that's not lit at all. The warning sign at the corridor's base is no joke -- a spiral staircase in the pitch dark can be quite a challenge for those who don't come equipped with a flashlight.
From the top of the keep is a view down the walls to the tower of the smaller Rocchiola (Rocca Minore) at the northeast corner of the city's defenses. As we went to press, the rocca was still undergoing an extensive restoration, and only part of the fortress was open to the public.
