Underground Civitella

CR Coordinator Diego Mencaroni and archaeologist Hendrik Dey (DG 2011) explored a small, subterranean chamber under the ground-floor storage-rooms on the south side of the castle, found last winter during restoration works.

 Hendrik identified three phases of construction in the underground room: Phase 1 consists of two brick walls and a light-well belonging to a room that predates the current castle. This room was later partially blocked on two sides (east and south) by the foundations for the walls of the castle itself (Phases 2-3). The small, rectangular chamber that remained was covered with a barrel-vault in brick (Phase 3), which supported the weight of the castle-floor above. The chamber beneath remained accessible by way of a small, square aperture in the vault; it may have functioned as a storage-space. The room is approximately 1.65 meters high, with a floor covered in a dense layer of clay, probably the result of flooding over the centuries.