The hill on which the castle stands has been of great importance within the territory since Etruscan times. The position itself guaranteed control of the surrounding countryside.

Structures belonging to the Etruscan settlement were only found in the excavations on the hill summit, inside and in the immediate vicinity of the castle. The terracing, datable to between the end of the 7th and beginning of the 6th century B.C., formed what, in the medieval period, would become the centre of seigneurial power. At the present state of investigations the original nature of the site or its extension are still not clear. Following its abandonment sometime between the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 1st century B.C., the site remained uninhabited throughout the Roman period.

Even though the presence of some pottery fragments seem to indicate occupation of the site in the early medieval period, the first structures to characterise a fixed settlement date to the 11th century A.D. A small square tower with enclosure seems to date to this period. Between the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century this structure was incorporated into the castle’s enclosure wall and thus lost its function. It is possible that, the tower was already razed to a height of circa two metres in this period and used as a cistern for water collection (a function it maintained until the present day).

The second half of the 13th century seems to represent the castle’s moment of maximum expansion and structural complexity. The castle (situated in the eastern zone of the summit) underwent alterations involving extensive use of bricks. The palace, although retaining the same dimensions (40 m2) was completely restructured and a stone staircase was built to provide access to the upper floors. Three built-in wardrobes topped by round arches are still visible on the ground floor, as is the original stone paving.

The 2005 campaign investigated two new areas within the circuit walls. The first trench identified the remains of a church with rectangular plan which can be associated with that mentioned in written sources as the church of Santa Lucia. The interpretation of this building is based, as well as on the orientation (east-west), on the presence of a stone step in the eastern part of the pavement, which probably indicates a presbytery area. Further confirmation was given by the presence of a cemetery area in the southern part, where six burials were identified and excavated (three in earth graves emerged inside the church). The second trench brought to light part of a structure in the borgo. This was characterised by the presence of two floor levels associated with two identical brick structures. It is possible to date the final abandonment of the site to between the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century.