Colle San Magno - Roccasecca

Before descending to Roccasecca along the winding roads of the mountain, it is important to visit the Castle of Roccasecca and the small church dedicated to Saint Thomas Aquinas.

The Castle was built in 994 on Mount Asprano at the behest of the abbot of Montecassino, Masone, in alliance with the D’Aquino family of Pontecorvo. The first “lords” of Aquino were Lombards, and they gave rise to the dynasty and the County of Aquino, which ended after the victory of the Normans and Richard II in Southern Italy.

The castle had a defensive purpose as it allowed for the control of the lower Liri valley. It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Legend has it that Saint Thomas was born in this castle. Although reduced to ruins, the castle consists of the remains of a quadrangular wall with towers at the North-East and North-West corners, and a keep and a tower in the South-East corner. Outside the walls is the observation tower known as the “cannon” tower.

According to tradition, Saint Thomas was imprisoned here by his family, who opposed his religious choice after his initial period of captivity in San Giovanni Campano. Beneath the keep and the cylindrical tower lies the little church of Santa Croce outside the walls, built by the Counts of Aquino, where Thomas Aquinas certainly prayed. Beneath the cliff dominated by the castle stands the Church of San Tommaso, built in honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas, between 1323 and 1325.

The church, accompanied by a bell tower, houses several frescoes from the fifteenth century.