Castles and Fortresses

 This is a castle in San Marino.  San Marino is a country surrounded by Italy.  It is the oldest Republic in the world.  It is about an hour from Forli.

 It was a windy day in San Marino but it was clear and the view from the top of the mountain was spectacular.

 This is the fortress of Meldola, which is about 15 minutes from Forli.  They are presently restoring this building so you can't go in it right now.

This is the fortress in Castrocaro, which is about 20 minutes from Forli.  All of these structures date from 1000 to 1300.  This country, before it was a unified Italy, was full of city-states that were their own countries and they battled each other for land and resources.  You can see that these fortresses built on hills were virtually impregnable and protected these city-states from being taken over by opposing forces.