The castle of Cariseto, is located in a overlooking place on top of a mountain in Cariseto village, in the hamlet of Cerignale. The imposing tower is currently only a rock pile, but its great importance and its majesty are still perceptible.
The castle was built directly on a solid spur of rock, the fortress is an unique body with the mountain.
Historical background
Certain documents note already its existence in 972 a.C.; but the first true information about it dates in 1052, when the castle was given by the emperor Henry III to the monastery of St. Paolo of Mezzano Scotti, after to the Scotti family. In 1164 Frederick I (Barbarossa) put it under Obizzo Malaspina, who hosted him in 1167 in Cariseto, when he was escaping from the enemies, coming back from Rome. In 1540 the castle passes to Fieschi family and after that to Doria family.
The ruins of the Cariseto Castle
The castle was bombed by the Doria in 1547, later it was partially restored.
The current visible structure is composed by the boundary walls, which were supported by the reinforcement bastions. The walls have tiny slits, which were used as guns by the defending presence. To the sides, there are some ruins of the round towers; rather the inner part, the little armament square of the castle is still intact, there it’s easily possible to identify some inner rooms.
A safe wood walkway with handrail allows the access to the inner space of the castle.
Unfortunately there are no traces of the roof, which collapsed and the parts were later carried off with the rest of the broken ruins.
