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History of the castle
Roppolo appeared for the very first time in the historical archives in 761 under the name of "Roppoli". It was not until in 816 that it appeared in the historical archives with its actual name "Roppolo". Later in 963, the castle was in the possession of two families of Roppolo and also the neighboring Counts of Cavaglia.
Through the years, originally a wooden fortress with only a tower built with bricks, Roppolo became an important fortress located at the frontier with the Ivrea Region. The castle is well known to have been one of the major fortified points of the “chiuse Langobards” of the region of the Canavese. The Langoboards (also known as Lombards or Longobards), originated from the south of Sweden, dominated Italy from the VI to VIII centuries, were challenged with continued threats from France who attempted continuously to conquer this region. The wars launched by the king Pepin and his grand-son Carlo Magno (Charles the Main) were a big concern to the Longobards, which pushed the longobards to build a strong defense system with towers and fortified walls along the important passes through the Alps. The actual castle of Roppolo is the last witness of the architecture styles of that time, where an important battle took place in the year of 781.
The actual castle is the result of several important transformations. The tower is reputed to date back to longobardian times and was used during all the medieval period as a dungeon. The external walls of the castle dates back to the 10th century when the interiors are mainly from the 12th and 14th centuries. The castle has been several times refurbished and the actual rooms mostly date back to the XVIIe and XIXe centuries with the original structures and walls of the XII century.
