The hill where the town of Montefiascone currently stands (633 m a.s.l.), which has always been a naturally strategic position for controlling the entire valley, has been inhabited since the Iron Age; in the place where the present fortress is located, the remains of a Protovillanovan settlement were found, dating from around the 9th century BC-8th century BC. The construction of a defensive wall made up of tuff blocks, which probably took place between the 6th and 3rd centuries BC, dates back to the Etruscan period.
The restorations carried out in the 1980s brought to light the tombs that make up a burial area dating back to the Lombard period (6th-7th century); the remains of the necropolis are still visible through the floor made up of transparent plates. In the Middle Ages, the presence of a well-equipped stronghold, most likely wooden, was already attested, guarding the strategic position near the Via Cassia (and later the Via Francigena).
Occupied by Federico Barbarossa in the 12th century, the fortress was reconquered by the papal troops and identified by Pope Innocent III as a pivotal point for the defense of the region. In 1207 the pontiff moved the seat of the Rector of the Patrimony of San Pietro in Tuscia to Montefiascone, more easily defensible, and made numerous changes to the pre-existing fort, starting the actual construction of the fortress as it is now visible. The garrison was expanded and its fortifications strengthened according to the canons of the military architecture of the time, designed as a trapezoidal structure with 4 corner towers.
Innocent III's successors continued to expand and renovate the fortification; in particular Urban IV, who often resided in the town, had the tower strengthened and Martin V, who lived there for a long time during the winter months, awarded the castle the title of "special castle of the Church". Between 1321 and 1342 the Rocca was the seat of the Pontifical Mint. During the so-called Avignonese Captivity, Montefiascone and its fortress became the center from which the popes administered the political affairs of their dominions in Central Italy. From 1353 Cardinal Egidio Albornoz, delegated by Pope Innocent VI to consolidate the Italian dominions in view of an imminent return of the Papacy to Rome, made the Rocca one of his first bases for the reconquest of the Lazio territory.
It was in particular Pope Urban V who inaugurated the period of maximum flowering of the Rocca, ordering new expansion works (including the construction of a large cistern dug in the square in front of the palace) in 1367 and making the fortress one of his privileged summer residences. At the beginning of the sixteenth century Cesare Borgia undertook new modernization works of the military garrison of the Rocca, directed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, to make it more resistant to the use of new firearms that had become widespread in the war art of the time.
The first part of the 16th century saw perhaps the greatest development of the Rocca, further enlarged by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, who built the internal Renaissance courtyard and the consolidation of the surrounding walls in 1516, and was chosen by numerous popes such as Julius II, Leo X (who often resided there with his entire court) and Clement VII (who found refuge there during the Sack of Rome in 1527) as his usual summer residence.
The gradual decline of the Rocca's importance within the hierarchy of papal palaces began with Pope Paul III Farnese, who ordered the transfer of a large part of the military garrison (in particular of five large defensive guns) to the fortress of Perugia, from him made himself erect. The seat of the rectorate of the patrimony of San Pietro in Tuscia was also transferred to Viterbo, contributing to the general decline of the locality and the stronghold. The spread of the plague in the city in 1657 and a serious earthquake in 1695 accentuated the decline of the fortress, which was sold in 1691 to Cardinal Gregorio Barbarigo, who took some material for the construction of the new city seminary and used the structure as a warehouse. Confiscated by the Italian state in 1870, it was returned to the municipality of Montefiascone, which is still the owner and has commissioned important restoration and recovery works since 1983.
Of the imposing fourteenth-sixteenth century defensive complex, which had a trapezoidal plan with the corners occupied by imposing towers, only part of the structure remains, and the imposing north-west tower. From the southern corner tower, called Torre del Pellegrino, you can enjoy a splendid view of Lake Bolsena and the surrounding countryside.
The current building, which is currently accessed from the bridge overlooking the ancient moat, is divided into two floors and an underground. The upper floor has a gabled ceiling punctuated by large round arches and is accessed both from the ground floor, passing through the north-west corner tower, and from the outside, through the staircase overlooking the portico. The basement essentially consists of a large rectangular room. The loggia, which originally enclosed a rectangular courtyard, is no longer visible today, attributed to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. On the pillars that support the arches there are two inscriptions bearing the date 1516 and the name of Pope Leo X, referring to the date of completion of the works commissioned by him.
Since 2006, the ground floor of the fortress has housed a small museum dedicated to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, who contributed to its modernization at the beginning of the 16th century, containing several photographs and illustrative sketches of his work. Currently, cultural events and meetings take place in the Rocca's rooms. At the Enoteca Provinciale Tuscia, set up in the large hall obtained from the ancient stables in the basement, it is possible to taste wines and other local products. At the foot of the fortress it is also possible to visit an Italian garden built by Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi in 1736.
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