The Castello di Moneto of Carrara consisted of a fortress and a small hamlet which had sprung up around it. Thanks to its strategic location, ownership was often contested and the castle changed ownership multiple times in the course of the centuries. Nowadays, not much is left of the castle.
Castello di Moneta Carrara
Useful information
Address: Via Moneta, 54033 – Carrara. Phone: +39 0585 816524. The monument can only rarely be visisted.
History and description
The earliest official references to the Castle of Moneta date back to a 13th century document known as the Palevecino Codex.
The site itself had probably been used by earlier fortifications, starting with a prehistoric castle built by the Apuan Ligurians. In the 2nd century a Roman settlement was constructed, which in the 6th century was turned into a castle by the Byzantines and later taken over by the Lombards.
The first owner of the Castle of Moneta was one Bondiero, who received it as a gift from the diocese of Luni. Hereafter it passed to the Pisans, to Castruccio Castracani and to Gian Galezzo Visconti.
In 1402, the mercenary captain Giovanni Colonna conquered the castle, and ceded it to Paolo Guinigi before returning it to the Visconti.
The Spinetta di Campofregoso, lords of Sarzana, restored and fortified it between 1450 and 1460.
The next rulers were the Malaspina of Fosdinovo.
The last owners before the city of Carrara purchased the castle was an aristocratic family from the city itself, called Dervillé. The city only acquired the fortress, while the rest of the village remained private property.
A moat separated the village, which consisted of around 100 families, from the castle. The villagers worked for the castle, for example by collecting taxes from other neighboring settlements.
However, around the beginning of the second half of the 18th century, the village emptied. The inhabitants moved to the base of the hill, where a new village, called Fossola, developed.