What is it?
Descrizione
Among the most fascinating and mysterious places in Melpignano is undoubtedly the prison cell of the Palazzo Marchesale Castriota. Its construction dates back to the time of the seventeenth-century restoration of the castle and is an important example of the feudal justice administration system. In fact, in 1522 Andrea Francesco de Ajello, lord of Melpignano, bought the right to be able to administer the justice of the criminal, civil and mixed cases of the casale of Melpignano, administered until then by the Regia Audientia Hidruntina, and in 1559, Prammatica XIX ˝de Baronibus˝ prohibited the segregation of prisoners in castle pits and imposed on feudal lords the obligation to build new prisons. Thus a prison arose in Melpignano. The punishments imposed varied according to the seriousness of the crime committed and the social class to which they belonged: from fines to corporal punishment, from jail to banishment, and even capital punishment. Backward times of law and not equal for all. The prison cell, with its entirely historiated walls, is the mute tale of many stories of resignation, hope and devotion. Each mark is distinctive of the thought and hand that traced it, restoring its humanity and history
