Recently we had the honour of attending an investiture for I Cavalieri Templari a Marta - Marta Knights Templar held in a beautiful location, The Templar Castle and church dating from the 13C dedicated to Santa Maria delle Grazie and their surrounding grounds.
Before work commenced.
After
The three photos prior to and just after restoration of the church are with thanks to http://www.castellaraldo.it/index.htm
Castell’Araldo is a Templar Castle and church dating from the 13C, located on the road to Tuscania just a few kilometres outside Marta, on a hill 313 metres above sea level high with the river Marta in the valley way below. The Knights Templar Monks built it to defend the road and during that era it was important amongst the Bishops and Abbots of the region, also the local parliament of Montefiascone. After the dissolution of the order the castle passed to the order of Knights of St John in Jerusalem. In 1434 it was occupied by mercenary troops and started to fall into decline until it was destroyed in 1459 by the inhabitants of nearby Canino. The Knights of St John in Jerusalem continued to own and maintain the site until 1889 when the church was sold to the town of Marta.
It has always been considered an important site over the centuries as it was crossed by an important road, which joined the Via Aurelia and Via Cassia. It was also part of the Via Francigena, used by thousands of pilgrims travelling to Rome from Northern Europe.
Up to 2006 (and probably from the fifteenth century) the Castle and the Church remained only ruins covered with vegetation, work on recovery and restoration of the church was completed in 2008. It is wonderful to see the Castell’Araldo restored to its former glory after hundreds of years of neglect.
The management of the Church and the whole site is now organized by the Marta Knights Templar (VT), under the supervision of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of the Lazio Region of Italy.
Occasionally feasts and ceremonies "Templars" are held in the presence of various authorities and local citizens at the site. It was our presence at one of these ceremonies that enabled me to take these photographs.
The purpose of this post is to share some photos plus a little history of the Il Castello Templare di Castell’Araldo del XIII secolo but if you are interested in finding out more about either Castell’Areldo and I Cavalieri Templari a Marta - Marta Knights Templar I have included some links to two websites that may be useful.
Photos are my own
All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection unless otherwise stated and information was researched with the help of the following websites.
http://www.castellaraldo.it/ Official Website dedicated to the site.
Wow!! What an amazing ceremony that must have been! You always find the most incredible things to do and see! Wonderful photographs too. More for your future book, perhaps??? *wink*
ReplyDeleteGorgeous, gorgeous photos! I would love to visit someday. How exciting to be a part of a restoration like this.
ReplyDeleteI love these marvelous photos, Linda!! So much light and color. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating learning the history behind these historic buildings, and it is a joy to see some of them being restored so that they could be enjoyed, studied and even utilized. The official Knights Templar were disbanded in the 14th century. Is the Marta Knights Templar basically an organization devoted to the historic preservation of ancient treasures?
ReplyDeleteOh wow. I am always amazed at the history and the character of these historic buildings.
ReplyDeleteVelva
Thank you for sharing this piece of interesting history and the restoration is beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteHelenxx
Excelente restauração, não se pode deixar que a história se perca, adorei.
ReplyDeletelove the photos, the restoration and the bit of history you have shared. thank you! i am enamored with wooden painted crucifixes in really old churches.
ReplyDeleteThe restoration is quite amazing and what a beautiful ceremony., It must have been so good to be a part of it. Super photos, as always!
ReplyDeleteWhat fantastic pictures. Not only of the renovation but of the surrounding view and an official procession going on. Thanks to Tom Hanks and the movie, we here in America are familiar with the term "Knights Templar".
ReplyDeleteI just love it when these old buildings are brought back to life and what an ceremony to celebrate, Great photos and links. Diane
ReplyDeleteWhat a privilege to be at that ceremony surrounded by so much history. Your beautiful photographs certainly captured the spirit of the celebration. I am very interested in The Knights Templar. My surname is Temple-Morris and I have often wondered if it originated with the Templars.
ReplyDeleteThanks for such an interesting post.
Italy does such a great job of preserving history. Every time I turn around here in the States they are tearing something down to build something new. :/ Thank you for this wonderful tour!
ReplyDeleteSo magical - you always have such wonderful details in your posts
ReplyDeleteI am delighted by this post. For a moment, I felt as if I am in Italy, surrounded by knights. I appreciate that you shared it with us.
ReplyDeleteThe before and after pictures made me want to cry. How beautiful to restore such history! How fortunate for you to be there and how lucky for us that you share it on your blog!
ReplyDeleteQuite an occasion!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that the church was restored. I wonder what the original castle looked like.....Thanks so much for posting before and after photos. You were lucky to have been present at the service. I love history!
ReplyDeletewow! thank you for sharing this!!
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