Copertino Castle

It is located in the eponymous city of Copertino, north of Gallipoli on the heel of Apulia, between Manduria and Galatina.

[1] The castle was originally built in the Norman period, and altered significantly for Alfonso Castriota by Charles V's renowned fortifications expert Evangelista Menga in 1540, in response to significant military developments including the use of gunpowder.

The alterations included a ditch and majestic bastions with 90 arrow slits to allow cannon movements.

Copertino therefore incorporates an Angevin keep, being later enlarged to a quadrangle plan with a tapered rampart at each of the four corners.

The Castle's inner courtyard includes several enormous galleries, and to the left of the Castle's entrance is the porticoed palace built for the Squarciafico Pinelli, Counts of Copertino and Marquesses of Galatone, ancestors of the Princes of Belmonte.