Rocca Calascio – Italy’s Castle in the Sky

September 18, 2024|Rick Juliusson

Day One of cycling through the stunning Italian countryside ended at the fairy-tale “Rocca Calascio,” which has been declared one of the 15 most beautiful castles in the world by National Geographic.

The first day of any ride is always hard as muscles and mind take time to toughen up. Leaving L’Aquila was particularly gruelling as we started up an unrelenting 8-10% grade for the first hour, then all the way back down on a bumpy gravel path, then back up to that same height again till lunchtime. The afternoon was more up, including the first ever uphill gravel grinds of my life. Here’s what the whole day, with a total of 4,214 feet of climbing, looked like (white stripes indicate gravel roads).

In the first small town we collapsed at the public fountain gushing with life-saving water and a comfortingly dark and cool church - features we came to appreciate in small towns throughout the region. Being a Sunday, the town’s only bar/restaurant was not cooking and could only serve us ice-cream bars and potato chips for lunch.

In the afternoon we continued up above the tree line, bouncing along rocky paths through sparse grazing land. There was little vegetation, and rarely did we see animals as they need to migrate around large tracts of land to feed in this harsh environment. The rocky terrain was uncultivated, and what rocks had been moved around were just in large piles, not the tightly divided rock-walled pastures of Ireland, nor the extensive step-farming rock container walls we’d find later in more fertile lands of Italy.

How quickly we ascend above that village with the fountain!

Rocca Calascio - at long last!

Just when we were wondering how long this could go, magic happened - the Rocca Calascio fortress suddenly loomed way at the top of the next mountain. At 1,460 meters (4,790 feet) above sea level, to be exact. Initially built as a watchtower in the 10th century or earlier, it was further built up in the 14th and 16th centuries. While it has mostly stood the test of time and earthquakes, the main tower used to continue another three impressive stories higher.

Like many European wonders, the castle is fully accessible. No guard rails, no warning signs, and large boulders to scramble over to reach the drawbridge. Even full access at night when we scrambled back up the rocks to enjoy the lit-up castle in the dark (interrupting a young couple enjoying the dark romance of making out against the cold rock walls of a 10th century castle…)

Steep winding stairs to ascend to the top levels, rewarded with sweeping views over the whole valley (hence, the watchtower location). We saw many more ancient forts and castles, but this was the most breathtaking - no doubt the reason it has been featured in many movies, including “LadyHawke” (1985), “The Name of the Rose (1986) and “The Bride’s Journey” (1987).

As a final treat, we stayed the night in the “Rifugio Rocca Calascio” (hostel) in the Medieval hamlet just below the walled fortress. Once the bustling narrow streets where the townfolk and castle staff lived a thousand years ago, it is now home to a few street cafés and tourist shops by day, and completely closed at night except for us handful of visitors who get to sleep in the restored rock-wall rooms scattered across the steep hillside.

Our room

We stored our bikes in this courtyard

We completed our Rocca Calascio experience with a steep morning ride 200 meters down to the only slightly more modern Calascio town (in 1530, it was recorded as having “339 earthen hearths”), with more sweeping valley views and narrow cobblestone medieval streets. How on earth will the next 6 days live up to this fairy-tale beginning?