Castello Maniace viewed from the seaward side of the Marina Grande

The Castello Maniace is a

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. In ...

and

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Syracuse, Sicily Syracuse ( ; it, Siracusa ; scn, Sarausa ), ; grc-att, wikt:Συράκουσαι, Συράκουσαι, Syrákousai, ; grc-dor, wikt:Συράκοσαι, Συράκοσαι, Syrā́kosai, ; grc-x-medieval, Συρακοῦσαι, Syrakoûs ...

, southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is situated at the far point of the

Ortygia Ortygia (; it, Ortigia; grc-gre, Ὀρτυγία) is a small island which is the historical centre of the city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse, Sicily. The island, also known as the ''Città Vecchia'' (Old City), contains many historical landmark ...

island promontory, where it was constructed between 1232 and 1240 by the

Emperor Frederick II 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 Jerusa ...

. It bears the name of

George Maniakes George Maniakes (, transliterated as Georgios Maniaces, Maniakis, or Maniaches, , ; died 1043) was a prominent general of the Byzantine Empire of Byzantine Greek origin during the 1 ...

, the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

general who besieged and took the city in 1038. Originally, one could only enter the castle over a bridge spanning a moat (now filled). A feature of the castle is the decorated portal. Today the castle is open to the public and is a local tourist attraction in Syracuse.

History

The first fort was built here in 1038 by

, an Armenian general and later the

Catepan of Italy The Catepanate (or Catapanate) of Italy ( el, ''Katepaníkion Italías'') was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 965 until 1071. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of S ...

, after he captured Syracuse from the Arabs on behalf of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Michael IV. Frederick II, as King of Sicily, had his architect

Riccardo da Lentini Riccardo is a male given name, Italian version of Ricardo or Richard. It also may be a surname. It means "Powerful Leader". It may refer to: People A–L *Riccardo Antoniazzi (1853–1912), Italian violin maker *Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) ...

rebuild it in 1232–1240. King

Peter III of Aragon Peter III of Aragon ( November 1285) was King of Aragon, King of Valencia (as ), and Count of Barcelona (as ) from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282, pres ...

resided here with his family in 1288. From 1305 to 1536 the castle was used as a residence by numerous queens of Sicily. In the 15th century it was used as a prison. In the following century it was included in the fortification defending the harbour and the city. A huge explosion damaged it in 1704, after which it was renovated and adapted to the use of guns.

Sources

*Alexander Knaak: ''Prolegomena zu einem Corpuswerk der Architektur Friedrichs II. von Hohenstaufen im Königreich Sizilien 1220–1250,'' Marburg 2001. (For Castello Maniace see pp. 47–58) Buildings and structures completed in 1240

Maniace Maniace (Italian: ''Maniace''; Sicilian dialect: ''Maniaci'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about northwest of Catania. The municipality bears ...

Buildings and structures in Syracuse, Sicily Norman architecture in Italy Tourist attractions in Sicily {{Italy-castle-stub