The image is of the Castello Doria circa 1925
The Piazza Doria is on the left, and the Monument to the War Dead is in the foreground at the right. This view shows the moat around the Castello. The Castello Doria of Angri dates from medieval times and dominates the valley of the Sarno River in a strategic position.
Some notes presume the existence of the castle from 1290. In September of 1421, during the struggle for the succession on the throne of Naples between the Angioini (Angevines) and Aragonese, the castle was attacked and destroyed by Braccio Forte da Montone.
It originally belonged to the marquis of Vasto, Alfonso D'Avalos, and then to the Carafa family. In 1612 the Doria family, a powerful noble family from Genoa acquired the feud of Angri, coming into possession of big farmsteads, palaces and the Castello of Angri.
In the course of the years, the feud of Angri passed from one family to another, until it passed into the hands of the Doria who rebuilt the castle at the end of the 1700s, with its baroque architecture.
The Castello of Angri, since then called Doria, has also entertained King Carlo V within its walls.
The Castello has two big concentric towers, corresponding to a three-story building with two smaller towers at its exterior angles. One should note the monumental staircase, the sala affrescata, the cells, and outside the tower, the moat and the drawbridge. Of the two concentric towers, the external one was built during the renaissance period, while the inside one, a bit taller, represents the old nucleus of the building. The moat that still surrounds the castle was, very probably, built during the renaissance.
Castello Doria has always been one of the most important monuments of the paese (along with the Church of Saint Giovanni Battista) in the collective imagination of the angresi. It is difficult to date with exactitude when the Castello was first built, but only over the course of the centuries has it assumed its current appearance. The origin of its history is tied to the strategic position of the piece of real estate. But the fact that it was constructed on a nearly level zone, leaves us to presuppose that the Castello was part of a more complex defensive system. From historic descriptions and accounts, it becomes clear that the building has endured numerous modifications and adaptations to several architectural styles over time.
Rebuilt between the XVIII and XIX centuries today it is the Municipio (town hall). The garden has become the town villa.
The Castello was purchased by the Comune in 1908 for £ 90,000 (that is, 90,000 lire) for use as the seat of local government. Because of the earthquake of 1980 the Castello was declared unfit for use, and only in 1988, after a job of restoration lasting four years, was it returned to being the center of the Comune.