The Rocca of Frangipane and the Church of the Madonna of the Rocca

Reached by a path that starts just before the church of St. Egidio, past the old houses of the primitive village built inside the walls, you come to a paved road in local stone, to the church and the fortress of the Frangipane located right on top of the hill (Monte della Rocca 553 m).

For this position from the castle there is a beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding area and the town of Tolfa below. The first fortifications date back to the time of the Saracen invasions which caused an exodus of coastal populations to the inside and the construction of villages around easily defensible fortresses and used for this purpose was the Rock and the primitive village throughout the period of feudalism up to 1469 when the brothers Frangipane give all the estate of the Tolfa Old Church a few years after the entry into production of the mines of alum.

At the beginning of 1200 historical documents attest to the existence of the castle “Castrum Tulphae Veteris” or “Tulpha Vetus” of the Diocese of Sutri and “Tulpha Nova”, of which today there are only the ruins at Monte Tolfaccia, belonged to the Diocese of Viterbo . The body of the castle consists of an input crenellated turret, strong perimeter wall, an interior wall partition and underground low vaulted ceiling.

The church placed a little further down is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rock has always been very dear to Tolfetani as the numerous votive offerings found around the altar.