The Colonna fortress is the most representative monument of Paliano and is still used as a prison.
The fortress was begun in the eleventh century during the period in which the inhabitants sought refuge from the Barbarians in fortified buildings on high ground. In 1232 the Castrum Palianus was surrounded by walls protected by a moat and a high square tower was constructed.
The traces of this first plan have been deleted with the nearly complete reconstruction by the Colonna family according to the best military architecture town planning regulations of the sixteenth century.
The fortress had the task of supervising and controlling the south-eastern entry to Rome.
In the main tower there is a small apartment and a office for Marcantonio Colonna on which are painted the Zagarolo palace and a commemoration of the triumphal procession in Rome following the victory of Lepanto over the Turks in 1571. The cycle of paintings is attributed to Tribuzio Spannocchi.
The fortress was impregnable until the arrival of Napoleon's troops who pillaged it and everything else in Paliano. Today it is open two days a year with entry on reservation.
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