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Sant'Elmo is the name of both a hill and a fortress in Naples, located near the Certosa di San Martino. Together, the structures overlook Naples and are the most visible landmarks in the city. The name "Sant'Elmo" is from an old 10th-century church, Sant'Erasmo, that name being shortened to "Ermo" and, finally, "Elmo".
The first information we have concerning the majestic fortress that presides over the city of Naples dates from 1275, when some relatives of Charles d'Anjou are known to have been living there. Known originally as Belforte, it must have been merely a fortified residence, foursquare and surrounded by walls, its entrance gate marked by two turrets. Robert d'Anjou decided to enlarge what was described as the palatium in summitatae montanae Sancti Erasmi, and in 1329 he entrusted the work to the Sienese architect Tino da Camaino, who at that time was overseeing the building of the adjacent Carthusain monastery of San Martino. The work went on until 1343, and already in 1336 it was referred to as a castrum or castle rather than a palace. In that year Tino da Camaino died and he was succeeded by Attanasio Primario and Francesco di Vico.
By 1348 documents refer to the building as 'castrum Sancti Erasmi", probably because there was a chapel dedicated to Saint Erasmus on the site. The Angevin fortress was severely damaged in an earthquake in 1456, which brought down the external walls and the towers. The Argonese rulers of Naples, and notably Don Pedro de Toledo, included it in a comprehensive scheme designed to fortify the whole perimeter of the city, based on four separate strongholds. Now known as Sant'Erasmo, it was given its definitive six-pointed star shape between 1537 and 1547 by Pedro Luis Escriva from Valencia, one of the most renowned military architects of the age. The daring hexagonal shape drew fierce criticism from his contemporaries, to such an extent that in 1538 Escriva published an Apologia in which he justified his design.