Caetani Castle historical timeline

Last updated on October 8, 2026

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1200 The Annibaldi raise the castle at the beginning of the thirteenth century, as a military fortress at a strategic point between Rome and Naples rather than as a noble residence. Only the keep and the counter-tower called the maschietto survive from it.
1297 The Annibaldi cede Sermoneta, Bassiano and San Donato to Pietro Caetani, nephew of Boniface VIII, for 140,000 gold florins. The Caetani turn the rocca into a true fortress, with new buildings and five rings of walls worked by drawbridges so the tower can be isolated under attack.
1492 Alexander VI Borgia is elected and immediately excommunicates the Caetani. Onorato Caetani has already survived an ambush perhaps laid by the Borgia.
1500 Alexander VI confiscates all the Caetani fiefs and entrusts them to his children Cesare and Lucrezia. He completes the castle with further fortification by Antonio da Sangallo, including the Casa del Cardinale and the Borgia Cittadella. Lucrezia Borgia stays at Sermoneta for periods during his pontificate.
1536 Charles V is received at the castle, as Frederick II had been before him and the popes Gregory XIII in 1576 and Sixtus V would be after. The inscriptions of visitors of standing are still preserved on a wall inside.
1550 Under Onorato III Caetani, around the middle of the sixteenth century, Sermoneta reaches its greatest splendour. He fights at Lepanto.
1798 Napoleon's soldiers sack the castle, turn it into a prison and carry off thirty-six cannon.
1880 The castle returns to the Caetani towards the end of the nineteenth century with Gelasio Caetani, who carries out the major restoration of the old family seat.
1944 During the Anzio landing the castle is still lived in by Roffredo and Marguerite Caetani, together with their tenants who have fled the Pontine plain.
1977 Lelia Caetani, the last descendant of the Caetani of Sermoneta, dies on 11 January, and the castle passes to the Fondazione Roffredo Caetani which she created.

Verified against Wikipedia, October 2026.

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Checked against Wikipedia — The castle was built at the will of the Annibaldi family at the beginning of the thirteenth century, conceived more as a military fortress at a strategic point of the territory between Rome and Naples than as a noble residence: the external walls are over three metres thick and the whole structure is protected by a circuit of walls resting on living rock, and of this first construction only the keep and a counter-tower called the maschietto remain, In 1297 the Annibaldi family ceded the territories of Sermoneta, Bassiano and San Donato to Pietro Caetani, nephew of Pope Boniface VIII, for 140,000 gold florins, and the Caetani spared nothing in making the Annibaldi rocca a true military fortress, with new buildings and five circuits of walls which, through a system of drawbridges, made it possible to isolate the tower in case of attack; under Onorato III Caetani in the mid-sixteenth century Sermoneta knew its moment of greatest splendour, Onorato being an active and energetic man and a born commander as he showed at the battle of Lepanto, An important signal of the danger to the Caetani family was the ambush of which Onorato himself was the victim, perhaps laid by the Borgia; as soon as Alexander VI Borgia was elected pope in 1492 he immediately excommunicated the Caetani and in 1500 confiscated all their fiefs, entrusting them to his children Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. Alexander VI completed the manor with further fortification works by Antonio da Sangallo, which also included the construction of the Cittadella and the so-called Casa del Cardinale, The castle, which hosted among others Frederick II and in 1536 Charles V, long hosted Lucrezia Borgia who stayed at Sermoneta for some periods under the pontificate of Pope Alexander VI Borgia; other guests at the Castello Caetani included the popes Gregory XIII in 1576 and Sixtus V and other illustrious figures, traces of whom survive in a room of the complex that held the inscriptions, still preserved on a wall, of all visitors of a certain standing, The fortress was attacked many times over the centuries, and in 1798 the castle was sacked by Napoleon's soldiers who turned it into a prison and removed 36 cannon from it; the castle returned to the Caetani towards the end of the nineteenth century with Gelasio Caetani, to whom the imposing restoration works of the ancient family residence are owed. In the Second World War, during the Anzio landing of 1944, the castle was still inhabited by the Caetani, Roffredo and Marguerite, and by their tenants who had fled the Pontine plain. Since 1977 the castle has belonged to the Fondazione Roffredo Caetani, created by the last descendant of the Caetani of Sermoneta, Lelia Caetani, who died on 11 January 1977 (October 2026).

Caetani Castle historical timeline

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