The Castello di Milazzo ( en, Milazzo Castle) is a castle and

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...

Milazzo Milazzo ( Sicilian: ''Milazzu''; la, Mylae; ) is a town (''comune'') in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, southern Italy; it is the largest commune in the Metropolitan City after Messina and Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto. The town has a p ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. It is located on the summit of a hill overlooking the town, on a site first fortified in the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

era. The Greeks modified it into an acropolis, and it was later enlarged into a

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

by the Romans and Byzantines. The Normans built a castle, which was further modified and enlarged during the Medieval and Early Modern periods. It is now in good condition, and open to the public. The castle was built as a result of the strategic importance of the Milazzo peninsula, which commands the Gulf of Patti, the body of water that separates Sicily from the Aeolian Islands. It also commands one of Sicily's most important natural harbours.

History

Antiquity

The first fortifications on the site of the Castello di Milazzo were built in around 4000 BC, during the

. The Greeks built an acropolis in the 8th or 7th centuries BC, and the Romans and Byzantines modified the site into a

. Ancient coins, including those of the

Mamertines The Mamertines ( la, Mamertini, "sons of Mars", el, Μαμερτῖνοι) were mercenaries of Italian origin who had been hired from their home in Campania by Agathocles (361–289 BC), Tyrant of Syracuse and self-proclaimed King of Sicily. ...

, have been found recently inside the castle's perimeter.

Norman and Swabian rule

the castle was built by the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

and later enlarged by the Swabians. The castle was extensively modified during the reign of

Frederick II of Hohenstaufen Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusal ...

. In 1295, the Sicilian Parliament met here.

Aragonese and Spanish rule

Between 1496 and 1508, the Aragonese built walls with six semi-circular bastions, encircling the original medieval castle. They were designed by the architect Baldiri Meteli. Between 1525 and 1540, the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

built bastioned fortifications around the Aragonese walls and the settlement which surrounded it, expanding the castle into a

. The new fortifications were designed by the military engineers Pietro Antonio Tomasello and

Antonio Ferramolino Antonio Ferramolino was a 16th-century Italian architect and military engineer. He is also known as Sferrandino da Bergamo, and is called Hernan Molin in Spanish sources. He is mostly known for his work in Sicily, but he also designed fortificatio ...

. In 1577 by

Tibúrcio Spannocchi Tiburzio Spannocchi (1541–1609) (also Spanucchi, Spanochi, Spanoqui, Hispanochi etc.) was "king's engineer" to Philip II of Spain and subsequently to Philip III of Spain. He was named "Chief Engineer" in 1601. Origins Tiburzio Spannocchi was an ...

and in 1585 there was a reconstruction by

Camillo Camilliani Camillo Camilliani ( fl. 1574–1603) was an Italian architect, military engineer and sculptor. He is mostly known for the design of watchtowers and other fortifications around the coasts of Sicily. Life Camillani was born in Florence sometime ...

and after by

Pietro Novelli Pietro Novelli (March 2, 1603 – August 27, 1647) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Palermo. Also known as ''il Monrealese'' or ''Pietro "Malta" Novelli'' to distinguish him from his father, Pietro Antonio Novelli I ...

. Some outworks were added in the 17th century. Several civil buildings began to be built within the walls of the castle, including the old cathedral and various palaces.

18th to 20th centuries

The castle was in Habsburg hands in the first half of the 18th century, before being taken over by the

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

s. The latter retained the castle until they lost Milazzo to Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860. The castle was subsequently converted into a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

in 1880, and underwent a number of alterations. The prison closed in 1959 and the castle remained abandoned for a couple of decades.

Recent history

After many years of neglect and deterioration, the castle was restored between 1991 and 2002, and again between 2008 and 2010. Today, it is in good condition and is open to the public.

Layout

Although it is commonly called a castle, the Castello di Milazzo is more precisely a fortified town or

, since it housed several public and private edifices, such as a cathedral and a Benedictine convent. The citadel is located on top of a hill, which gradually slopes towards the town and its harbour. The south-eastern side of the castle consists of several defensive walls, while its north-western side is protected by a natural cliff-face. The keep of the castle is the ''Torre Saracena'' (Saracen Tower), which is also the oldest part of the fortification. It was built either by Normans, but like the rest of the castle, it was modified over the years until the 16th century. The keep is surrounded by walls with protruding square-shaped towers, which were built by the Swabians. These are in turn surrounded by the Aragonese Wall ( it, Cinta Aragonese), which contains semi-circular bastions. The Aragonese Wall is surrounded by the 16th century Spanish Wall ( it, Cinta Spagnola), which contains the following bastions: *''Bastione di Santa Maria'' – a semi-circular bastion at the southern end of the castle, containing the main entrance. It was named after a church dedicated to St. Mary which was partially demolished to make way for the bastion. *''Bastione delle Isole'' – an arrow-shaped bastion at the eastern end of the castle. It was designed by Antonio Ferramolino, and contains a number of countermines. The walls are protected by ravelins and other outworks which were built in the 17th century. A gallery with a barrel vault then leads to an internal courtyard, after which is the Old ''Duomo'' (cathedral), built from 1607. The Benedictine convent was built during the same period. The ruins of the ''Palazzo dei Giurati'' (Jurors' Palace) and of the older church of ''Santa Maria'' are also present.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book, last=Micale, first= Antonino, title=Il Castello di Milazzo, publisher=Stes, location=Milazzo , year=1982

Milazzo Museums in Sicily Historic house museums in Italy Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Messina Defunct prisons in Italy