The Castello Colonna stands in the northern part of Eboli, on a hill overlooking the town and the Sele plain. Today's structure is the result of many layers, starting from buildings of the Roman period; it probably rises on a Lombard military post, set to guard the county of Eboli, which was strategic for the defence of the Principality of Salerno. Its construction dates from Norman rule, the work of the lord of Eboli William of Hauteville, brother of Robert Guiscard: in Norman documents it appears as «Domus domini imperatoris in Ebulo». The present name comes from the works commissioned in the fifteenth century by Antonio Colonna, nephew of Pope Martin V. In 1640 it was enlarged and fortified.
What to see
Inside is the small church of San Marco, first mentioned in 1309.
The castle is seen from below, above the town; the northern outer tower collapsed on the evening of 8 March 2016.
Visiting
The castle is not a monument open to visitors: in the nineteen-thirties Baron Romano Avezzana sold it to the Ministry of Justice, which made it a reformatory for minors and in 1993 converted it into a low-security prison for the treatment of addictions. Only specific visits to a few rooms are possible, to be checked with the institution or with the town council.
Our editors' tip
The future of the castle is an open question in town: Eboli town council has asked several times to buy it and give it a tourist use, and the collapse of the tower revived the debate over its ownership. Meanwhile, cultural events linked to the inmates' programmes are organised inside the institution.
