Castello Lancellotti

The Lancellotti Castle is a place of historical interest located in Lauro, in the homonymous square of the Irpinian town.

Of Lombard-Norman origin, it was mentioned for the first time in a document of 976. It stands on a rock called the "first stone", belonging to an ancient Roman construction, near a small and elegant 19th-century garden, with a circular fountain in the centre. Previously this was part of a large 17th-century park, then destroyed in a fire caused by French troops against local anti-republicans in 1799. 

The building, which appears today as it was rebuilt in 1872 by Prince Filippo Massimo Lancellotti, it was inaugurated that same year on the feast day of the patron saints, Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian, on the 25th of August, and it's built in an composite architectural style: Gothic, Renaissance, Neoclassical and Baroque. To the right of the Renaissance wooden portal there is the stable, which preserves a remarkable 17th-century statue; in the bottom there is a small portal that leads to the secret garden and, behind it, there are the family chapel and part of the private apartments. In front of the avenue, a small bridge joins the courtyard with the dwelling. 
 
Today, the Lancellotti Castle houses an important historical museum and, during the guided tours, it's possible to admire many of its rooms which still make it one of the most evocative historic residences in Campania.