240px, The Castello normanno. The Castello normanno ("Norman Castle") is a castle in

Paternò Paternò ( scn, Patennò) is a southern Italian town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily. With a population (2016) of 48,009, it is the third municipality of the province after Catania and Acireale. Geography Paternò ...

, in the

Province of Catania The Province of Catania ( it, Provincia di Catania; scn, Pruvincia di Catania) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in southern Italy. Its capital was the city of Catania. It had an area of and a total population of about 1, ...

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

, southern Italy.

History

The castle was built in 1072 by Count

Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Roger Bosso and The Great, was a Norman nobleman who became the first Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was a member of the ...

to protect the

Simeto The Simeto (; scn, Simetu; la, Symaethus; el, Σύμαιθος) is a long river in Sicily, southern Italy. At , it is the second longest river on the island after the Salso (also known as Southern Imera), but the most important in terms of wat ...

valley from Islamic raids. Under Henry VI it was made the seat of the Count of Paternò, assigned to his fellow Swabian Bartholomew of Luci. Later the castle housed kings and queens, such as Henry's son Emperor Frederick II,

Eleanor of Anjou Eleanor of Anjou (August 1289 – 9 August 1341) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of King Frederick II of Sicily. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou by birth. She was the third daughter of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hunga ...

and Blanche I of Navarre, as the castle had been included in the so-called ''Camera Reginale'' estates ("Queen's Chamber") by King

Frederick III of Sicily Frederick II (or III) (13 December 1272 – 25 June 1337) was the regent of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1291 until 1295 and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in th ...

. The Chamber was abolished in the 15th century, and in 1431 the castle was acquired by the Speciale family; until 1456 it was owned by the Moncada family. Used as a jail, in the following centuries it became increasingly decayed, until restoration work begun in the 19th century brought it back to its ancient prominence.

Description

The castle has a rectangular plan, on three floors, with a height of 34 m. Originally, it had Ghibelline-style

merlon A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...

s, of which today only remains can be seen. Notable is the colour effect created by the dark shade of the stones and the frames of the Gothic-style

mullioned window A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s, in white

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The first-storey houses several service chambers and the Chapel of St. John, decorated with precious 13th-century frescoes. The piano nobile houses a large Weapons Hall. The king's residence was located in the upper floor.

References

Normanno Norman architecture in Italy Tourist attractions in Sicily Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Catania Paternò Buildings and structures completed in 1072 1072 establishments in Europe {{Italy-castle-stub