Septe Castle

Septe Castle's origin dates to the Lombard era (7th-8th century), when it was a fortress where blacksmiths and craftsmen forged weapons of the time, and housed a Guastaldo appointed by the king to protect territories known as "arimannie." Among the medieval castles of the Frentana area, it is the most celebrated and perhaps the most evocative, also for its intense and turbulent history unfolding across the centuries, beginning with the Lombard counts of Teate, who built it in the 9th-10th centuries.

The original building was destroyed and rebuilt on multiple occasions. In 1623 the castle was sold to private owners, and in 1721 Baroness Chiara De Osses, having no descendants, bequeathed it to cousins of the Genoino family. After being restored over several years, it was declared a National Monument by Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage.

The castle's Lombard origin as a weapons-forging fortress with a resident Guastaldo ties it to the early medieval administrative structure the Lombards imposed across their Italian territories, a system of appointed local officials protecting defined "arimannie" territories.

The repeated destruction and rebuilding the castle underwent across the centuries reflects the broader turbulence of the Frentana region's medieval and early modern history, distinct from castles in this collection that survived with more continuous, unbroken structures.

The 1623 sale to private ownership and the 1721 inheritance by the Genoino family mark the castle's transition from a more purely defensive or administrative role toward private noble residence, a pattern common across Italian castles once centralized state power reduced the need for scattered local fortifications.

The Costa dei Trabocchi coastline and Abruzzo's Maiella National Park, both within reach of Septe, give guests staying here easy access to both the Adriatic coast and the Abruzzese mountains.