The Fortress can be considered as an amazing History book: in fact, it is the result of several defensive structures overlapping and coming in succession through the centuries, starting from the origins of the city, on a site of fundamental and strategic importance.
Inside, you can find some ruins of the massive tuff blocks from the Roman foundations, clearly visible on the courtyard wall, just on the left when you are entering; in front of the entrance, instead, you can see some ruins of a thousand-year-old quadrangular tower made of limestone blocks, which subsequently (in the second half of the 14th century) was incorporated into the “Rocchetta” (the small Fortress) commissioned by the Cardinal Egidio Albornoz, near which around the half of the following century (the 15th century) the Fortress of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesti was built. The final works (1476-1482) were commissioned to the ducal architects Baccio Pontelli and Luciano Laurana by Giovanni della Rovere.
Along its millennial history, the fortress, which surrended to Cesare Boccia in 1503, when he carried out the notorious massacre of Senigallia described by Nicolò Machiavelli, not only was a fortress in the strict sense, but also a stately home, as well as the location of the artillery school founded by Guidubaldo II della Rovere in 1533. Once the ducal dynasty came to an end and the city passed again under the Church rule in 1631, the Fortress was first used as a papal prison, later as an orphanage. Nowadays it houses art exhibitions and prestigious cultural events.
Please visit the website www.roccasenigallia.it or the Facebook page www.facebook.com/RoccaRoverescaSenigallia? for any information about guided tours times and reservations.