La Motta

LA MOTTA

La Motta is a hill of volcanic origin (variable height up to 40 m. above sea level), of elliptical shape with diameters of 140-90 meters. Any archaeological evidence was covered with earth when the Parco della Rimembranza was created on this hill (1924), as happened in other sites in nearby municipalities, see Monteforte. La Motta was originally lapped by the Tramigna torrent (on the west side the altimetrically lower area), which marked the border of the Veronese countryside in Roman times (tromenia- termen = border). Currently the Tramigna flows into the Alpone torrent from the north-east side, following the deviation of the Alpone itself which occurred in the past. In fact, the Alpone had to run from north-west to south-east like all the other Lessine rivers. The increase in the flow of the waters of the two torrents has made the strategic site of La Motta more attractive for the purpose of establishing a castle.

The first document that mentions the castle of San Bonifacio is the famous will of Milo from 955 AD. In his will Milo refers to his fortified residence and attests, among other things, to the existence, on the same site of Motta, of a small church dedicated to San Bonifacio: the family of the Counts of San Bonifacio, Counts of Verona, and in alternating periods Marquises of the Marca Veronese (which at the time reached the borders with Friuli) until the advent of the Municipalities, took their name from the toponym. In reference to this small church dedicated to Saint Boniface (founder of the Fulda monastery), other documents, found in Germany at the same Fulda monastery and in the state library of Bamberg, confirm the existence near Verona, starting from the beginning of the 9th century, of a fiefdom dependent on the Fulda monastery (“..praedio Fuldensis monasterii, quod Monticellum dicitur, iuxta Veronam..” ) presided over by a monastery of monks assigned to ordinary offices. This property could only be our Motta, on which there was a chapel dedicated to Saint Boniface as reported in Milone’s will. The monastery was probably abandoned due to its isolation and distance from the Fulda monastery, and the “predium” passed into the possession of Count Milone. 

MILONE'S CASTLE OF 955

Starting from the 10th century, with the weakening of the royal and imperial authorities, we witness the spread of the phenomenon of the Encastellamento in Europe, to allow the control of the territories and for the defense against the incursions of the last "barbarian populations". In northern Italy the raids of the Hungarians raged.

Count Milone, who already managed the assets of the court of Zerpa owned by his brother Manfredo, a court, probably extended up to the Alpone, decided to fortify the hill of the "Motta", which due to its position between the Vicenza Committee and the Veronese Committee, protected to the south and west by large marshy areas, lapped by the Alpone and a short distance from the Postumia road, must have appeared as an ideal site for a castrense facility. The name Motta of the locality derives from the type of castle very common in Northern Europe, which included a fortified dwelling house, built on the highest point of a hill, and a "low courtyard", an area where the houses and annexes necessary for agricultural activities were located. The inhabited nucleus (partly the same as that existing before the fortification), had to be distributed concentrically in that terrace, still clearly visible, around the noble palace (to be identified in the area now occupied by the war memorial). Outside the circle, a high embankment ended in the moat that followed the current ring road. Since it is assumed that the Alpone flowed to the West of the Motta, it was to create effective protection at the most delicate point, that is to the North, that the river was diverted into the current riverbed. Since then this new course was continuously maintained efficient and has been preserved until today.

THE CASTLE IN THE 10TH – 11TH CENTURIES

At the time of Milo, the Motta castle was not the main castle, as there was the one in Ronco all’Adige, equipped with fortifications and a tower. At that time, traffic mainly took place along the river and therefore along the Adige, so the Motta castle, at least initially, had a more residential character. Its location, however, offered a series of advantages: first of all, it was in border territory and its location near a very important road such as the Postumia, could offer the possibility of controlling communications. Furthermore, the Motta castle had come to assume a central position in the possessions of the Comitale Family following the notable extension of the territories due to the benefit of the “terra mortuorum” by King Adalberto. This benefit consisted of the right to inherit, in lieu of taxation, the lands and assets of people who died without heirs, in a vast area in the Veronese committee, bordered to the north by the Valpantena up to the Val d'Alpone, to the south by the course of the Adige up to the Alpone. Finally, between the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century, numerous villages (castra) developed and San Bonifacio recorded a demographic increase, so much so that in the 11th century the counts asked the Bishop of Vicenza to transform the noble chapel they owned, dedicated to San Bonifacio, into a parish church. The descendants of Milone, thanks to the notable extension of their possessions, made the territory gravitating around the castle of San Bonifacio a sort of independent jurisdiction, within the Veronese committee.

THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE FACTIONS IN THE 13TH CENTURY

In the first half of the 13th century, our castle, which had in the meantime been transformed into a real military fortress, often played a leading role in the bloody events of the time. In the last part of the 12th century, the San Bonifacio held the office of podestà of Verona. Evidently their influence was favored by their economic capacity, by the tradition of the county function and by the kinship and friendship relations with the main families. Their supremacy was however challenged by the "Monticoli" supported by the Ezzelini Lords of the Marca Trevigiana. In 1205 there were violent clashes in the city and in the territory of San Bonifacio which was devastated; on this occasion the castle was also besieged. The struggle between the two factions to access the municipal offices of the city, led to a long period of instability in the territory of Verona, with alternating successes and defeats between the parties, even on a military level, situations that saw the castle of San Bonifacio at the center of the battles, until in 1231 Ezzelino III da Romano with a coup and with the help of Emperor Frederick II held Verona. There were attempts to achieve a pacification of the Venetian territory, but the rapprochement between Ezzelino and Frederick II became increasingly closer, as it was conditioned by Ezzelino's expansionist aims on the Marca and by the Emperor's interest in countering the Lombard League with the help of Ezzelino. The San Bonifacio paid the price: Ezzelino in 1242, after having taken the castles of Montecchio Maggiore, Montagnana, Bolca, Vestena, Villimpenta, in 1243 took Arcole and finally the castle of San Bonifacio. Of this last act, what is interesting to underline here is the precise will of Ezzelino to annihilate this castle, an enterprise already attempted and failed on other occasions. Its destruction served the security of Verona from the east, because it represented the military base from which the attacks of Ezzelino's enemies towards the city started and it was the place where they took refuge safely, after each incursion. This was the climate in which the siege of our castle took place; it had transformed from a manor house into a center of rural lordship and after a phase in which it served as a representation, here it is transformed into a powerful war tool.

THE CAPTURE OF THE CASTLE IN 1243 BY EZZELINO

On September 16, 1243, Ezzelino, with the help of the people of Vicenza and Padua, laid siege to the castle of San Bonifacio and attacked it with heavy assaults until it surrendered. After that, he ordered it to be razed to the ground. It is written in the chronicles that Ezzelino did “…tota destructione qua potuit…” that is, he simply made the structure unusable. In fact, the order to destroy the castle of San Bonifacio together with that of Arcole was given only in 1276 (by Alberto della Scala who gave the mayor of Verona the mandate to have a thousand workers work for ten days on the demolition. Today, only a few remains of this mighty bastion remain, which today perhaps reveal something to us. It is not clear who carried out the demolition which must have happened anyway because the rubble filled the moat and raised the ground in front of the church by about a meter and a half. The expanse of ruins was used for centuries as a quarry for building materials by the people of Samboniface and even today all the old buildings in the town contain the characteristic basalt blocks that made up the castle walls. It is difficult to realize what the castle of San Bonifacio meant, which for at least three centuries was one of the most important points of reference in the Marca, both from a defensive and political point of view. The history of those years revolved around this territory, the proof of this is in the attention with which the chroniclers of the time reported it. With the fall of the castle, the memory of the importance of those events was lost over the centuries; today Motta may appear as a hilltop without history, but it is necessary to re-evaluate this heritage through knowledge, study and research. Invia commenti Riquadri laterali Cronologia Salvate.