The “Times of Castles” project recently completed its spring 2024 fieldwork, marking another step in understanding and preserving Italy’s castle heritage. The research team explored and documented a series of historic castles, ranging from Lunigiana to the Ligurian Riviera, carrying out architectural archaeology surveys and mortar samples for archaeometric analysis.

Lunigiana, with its castles of Brina and Burcione, offers a fascinating insight into the medieval past of the Magra river valley. These sites, together with the castles of Zerli, Rivarola and Lagneto in the Valgraveglia and Entella valleys, and the castle of Andora in the Magra valley, represent a cultural heritage of inestimable value.

The castles of Brina and Burcione have been the subject of in-depth studies coordinated by Monica Baldassarri, which have revealed not only their strategic importance along the Magra river valley, but also details of daily life and social dynamics in medieval times. The Andora Castle is a jewel of the western Ligurian Riviera and one of the most significant historical sites in the region. Archaeological investigations led by Prof. Fabrizio Benente of the University of Genoa have revealed significant details about the structure and its evolution over time.

With the multidisciplinary approach, the research of ‘The Times of Castles’ aims to obtain a more precise dating of the structures, improving the understanding of the chronologies and transformations undergone by castles in the Middle Ages and the role they played in the development of rural lordship in Italy. There is much enthusiasm for future analysis campaigns and we invite you to follow the future developments of this project. Who knows what the ancient walls of these silent witnesses of the past will reveal.