Study of the wall parameters and analysis of the buildings

The Angevin town wall is characterized by the exclusive use of local travertine as the building material. On these visible parts of the wall, it is still possible to see the existence of scaffolding holes. Originally, the Angevin walls must have been of a considerable height if, in spite of its reduction during the 17th century, in 1821 Gestorf, the Austrian major, still wrote in a report that their average height was twenty fuss - around 6.2 m. The outline of the town wall was irregular, characterized by long, slightly scarped curtain walls which followed outcrops of coal rock over long stretches, especially on the south-west side. The curtain walls were interrupted by at least three gates and three towers located in the corners to break up rectilinear stretches which were obviously considered as too long.
Again, with regard to the defensive structures constructed during the Habsburg period, the main construction material was local travertine. This masonry also featured some more compact travertine coming from the Ascoli quarries, and by some brick wedges. At that time, Civitella was a borough fortified by a an almost elliptic ring of walls, which were interrupted by scarped towers and extended to take in the flat rocky area on the top of the hill where the castle had been built.
Today the masonry works used for the modifications made during the 18th and 19th centuries are no longer visible. Traces of them are only found in iconographic and documentary sources. Some photographs, which can be dated back to the end of 19th century, are particularly interesting and show the state of destruction and abandon the fortress was left in after its capitulation under the assault of Piedmontese troops in 1861.
The masonry of reconstruction works carried out in the 18th century is entirely made of travertine coming from the Ascoli quarries, and often without any consideration of the problem of continuity: only in some cases does the more recent masonry blend in with the previous masonry, by lying at a slightly lower level, therefore making interpretation of the different construction stages easier.
The majority of the village buildings were constructed using local travertine, partly recovered from dismantling of some parts of the fortress.
Characteristic fortified houses are common in the village, and their entrances have rifle racks made either in or beside the lintel.
Although Civitella del Tronto was defended by a strong system of walls, of which some traces are still visible today, the village is characterised by narrow streets and adjoining buildings, underlining the defensive character of the urban plan. The houses are built scarp on scarp, one on top of the other rather like terraces, thereby forming further curtain walls in front of the fortress. The narrow and uneven alleys made it possible to use one building as the side of another building. Once the town walls were overcome, the assaulting troops would not have been able to spread out and could easily have been blocked in the side streets. The so-called “Ruetta” “d’Italia la via più stretta” (the narrowest street in Italy) - only 40 cm wide - is an evident example of how urban spaces were organized as defensive elements.