Roccascalegna is a small town situated approximately 460 metres above sea level on the hills of the Val di Sangro.
The origin of the village goes certainly back to the middle ages, more precisely to 1160, according to documentary sources. However some remains discovered after archeological excavations show that in previous times there was a human settlement, of eneolithic period and then of Roman age.
What is known with certainty is that the village began as a military outpost of the Lombards to control the Rio Secco Valley and to defend the area from the Byzantines.
Scholars’ Opinions about the name of the village are conflicting . Some claim that Rocca Scalegna, mentioned as "Rocca-Scarengia" in the "Catalogus Baronum "(Barons’Catalogue) of1379, derives from "Scarenna", meaning "precipite, slope, ravine", with reference to the steep flank of the rocky spur on which the castle is still situated today. Others, instead, think that the right etymology is "Rocc-Ashari", a Lombard military leader who would be the founder of the same Castle. Finally, the popular tradition considers that the name Roccascalegna derives from the wooden staircase that once led to the castle tower, and indeed a ladder is represented in the municipal coat of arms.
The town is composed of modest houses with one or two floors, situated at the foot of the castle, some already reduced to ruins, and others renovated and still inhabited. They are flanked by a narrow road that runs around the rocky spur of the Castle and ends near the Church of San Pietro.