Location:
CORIGLIANO D’OTRANTO
Client:
PRIVATE
Object of the intervention:
RESTORATION OF THE CASTLE FACADE
Sector:
RESTORATION
Status:
FINISHED
DE’ MONTI CASTLE
CORIGLIANO
The foundation of Corigliano d’Otranto is uncertain but could date back to the period of Magna Graecia; over the course of its history, it became the property of various feudal lords including the noble De ‘Monti family, one of the most important in the lands of Otranto.
It was Giovan Battista De ‘Monti, in the first part of the sixteenth century, who fortified an ancient medieval castle, with the aim of repelling the incursions of the ferocious Saracens: this is how the symbol of Corigliano was born: the Castello De’ Monti, object of interventions Restoration mainly on the facade.
The entrance is surmounted by a rich balcony and, higher up, by three niches occupied by the statues of the client, of justice and of charity.
The four towers of the castle of Corigliano d’Otranto each have the coat of arms of the De ‘Monti family and each is dedicated to a saint and a cardinal virtue, represented with bas-reliefs: St. Michael the Archangel with the allegory of the fortress next to it; Sant’Antonio Abate with the allegory of temperance; St. John the Baptist with the virtue of justice depicted; and finally San Giorgio with the allegory of prudence.
