What to see
The fortress's current appearance is largely the work of Angevin military architect Pierre d'Agincourt. Between 1277 and 1280, he expanded the complex using volcanic stone extracted from a quarry directly behind the hill, adding a wide defensive moat, a majestic cistern, three pentagonal towers, and three rectangular ones. From the original square Norman layout, three of the four corner towers survive, now incorporated into the central palace. The Swabian footprint remains prominent in the eastern Marcangione tower, identifiable by its mullioned window, and the northern Sette Venti tower. Near the latter lie the partially collapsed ruins of the Angevin king's apartment, which featured early toilets and a defensive trapdoor guarding the north entrance. Buttresses were added above the dungeons to support a vast representation space known as the throne room. The main entrance facing the city, complete with a bridge over the moat, was opened in the 16th century by Marco Antonio del Carretto, the first governor appointed by the Doria family. A plaque above the door still commemorates his daughter Zenobia and her husband Andrea Doria, adopted son of the Genoese admiral who received the fief from Charles V in 1531.
Visiting
Surrendered to the State in the 1950s—long after surviving the bloody 1528 Siege of Melfi where Prince Giovanni Caracciolo fought French troops—the fortress now houses the National Archaeological Museum of the Melfese. The ticket office is located in a later addition adjoining the Norman towers. Visitors can explore the spaces that once held the Archive of the Kingdom, where notaries translated Arabic manuscripts like Avicenna's De Animalibus. Beneath the courtyard, tunnels connect the Marcangione and Sette Venti towers to the ancient dungeons. These cells imprisoned the Roman general Exaugusto Boioannes, rebellious barons, and French-German bishops meant to depose the emperor. The grim reality of these spaces was confirmed during excavations in the 1930s, which unearthed iron shackles and human remains in the execution room.
Our editors' tip
Pay close attention to the structural transitions at the north entrance near the royal apartments. The physical separation of this wing and the presence of a trapdoor reveal how, during the Angevin period, the castle's defenses were adapted to protect the sovereign not just from foreign armies, but from internal conspiracies originating within Melfi itself.