The castle of Termoli

Termoli is a town in Molise in the province of Campobasso; it rises 15 meters above sea level and has 32,000 inhabitants. A very wide beach, an important port, the characteristic intertwining of very narrow alleys and the embarkation for the Tremiti islands are the most famous things in Termoli. But Termoli is much more. Here the 42nd parallel north intersects with the 15th meridian east, which means that the Central European time is determined precisely in Termoli. It is a city without a past, since in 1566 it was attacked by the Turks who, after having conquered it, set fire to all the historical documentation. Every year for mid-August a historical re-enactment remembers this terrible event which not even the beautiful, austere and proud Swabian castle was able to prevent. Fortification of the city, an impregnable defense, the heart of the defensive apparatus of the seaside village, was unable to stem the Turkish fury; much of its walls were destroyed. Today the castle can be visited, declared a national monument in 1902. It owes its name to Frederick II of Swabia who had a previous Norman tower fortified and enlarged.