Fortifications

The donjons

Many defensive buildings in Molise seem to have originated from a donjon of the Norman period. Indeed, some of them are older while others, though adopting characteristics of the Norman models, were built in later periods. The scarcity of buildings that can truly be catalogued as donjons (serving as defence redoubts enclosed by a wall) is due to the fact that, in most cases, the original buildings were modified at a later date. Many four-sided (or more rarely circular) fortifications with escarped walls, with or without an inner courtyard, display signs of Norman influence. The location of a donjon may follow two principal models: it may be positioned in the most vulnerable part of the entire defensive structure or in the most protected part. In Molise it is almost always located at the periphery of the old town, sometimes next to the enclosing wall but more often isolated from it.

Campobasso

Larino

Gambatesa

     Enceintes and mottes