Castle of Santa Severa

Situated to the north of Rome, the Castle of Santa Severa on the Tyrrhenian Coast is one of the most striking and evocative places in the Region of Lazio. It owes its present name to St. Severa, a Christian girl traditionally believed to have been martyred on 5 June 298 C.E. under Emperor Diocletian. Parts of the Early Christian church dedicated to her (built in the late 5th century or the early 6^th century) can be seen in the Piazza della Rocca. This area has ancient origins which date back to the Bronze Age.

The castle was built in the mid 9^th century when Pope Leo X commissioned the main structure – the Maschio, known in the past as the Castle Tower. The castle gained a rectangular layout in the 14^th century along with the addition of corner towers and a wooden drawbridge over the moat. Its present-day appearance owes much to the restructuring carried out in the 16^th and 17^th centuries.

Used by the Germans as a base during WWII, it has belonged to the Regione Lazio since 2000 and was opened to public in 2014.