The fief of Gambatesa and its castle probably date back to the time of the Lombard invasion. However, the first documented evidence is found in the second half of the 10th century, during the phenomenon of encastellation. In 967, Pandolfo I Capo di Ferro, prince of Capua and Benevento, granted the monks of San Vincenzo al Volturno the right to build castles to defend the territory. Pandulf, a trusted ally of Emperor Otto I, supported the political unity of the kingdom of Italy by opposing Byzantine rule and the Lombard duchies.
The fief of Gambatesa appears in the “Catalogus Baronum” of the second half of the 12th century but gained greater importance in the 13th century with Riccardo da Gambatesa. Thanks to his military successes, Richard obtained fiefs and honors and, having no male heirs, he transmitted the Gambatesa surname to his nephew Riccardello Monforte, founding the Monforte-Gambatesa lineage.
With the advent of the Aragonese, the fief passed to Andrea di Capua, duke of Termoli. At this time, the castle was transformed into a fortified residence, enriched by a cycle of Renaissance frescoes. In the 1970s, the castle was purchased by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and restored by the Superintendence of Architectural Heritage of Molise.
Located in the historic center of Gambatesa, the castle dominates the Tappino valley. The structure still shows its original dual function: defensive, with a square plan, scarp basement and corner towers, and residential, with an ashlar portal, windows, small balconies and a Renaissance loggia with three round arches on the northwestern facade. In the early 16th century it was expanded with a new building body aligned with the medieval tower. A Guelph battlement was reconstructed on the perimeter terrace.
The castle has four levels, the most important of which is the second, main floor, decorated with magnificent 16th-century Mannerist frescoes commissioned by feudal lord Vincenzo I di Capua d’Altavilla from the painter Donato da Copertino, also known as Decumbertino. The author signed the entire cycle with the inscription “Donatus omnia elabravit,” but no other works of his are known. Today the castle represents a testimony of great historical and artistic value, a synthesis of medieval and Renaissance architecture.