The Castle of the Counts of Modica (or Castle of Alcamo) is a medieval

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 ...

situated in the town centre of Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy.

History

Vecchia foto del Castello di Alcamo adibito a carcere

In 1340 King Peter II of Sicily had given Raimondo Peralta , without any mention about the castle;Mirabella, Francesco Maria (1980). Alcamensia noterelle storiche. Alcamo: Sarograf. in fact, it is quoted, for the first time, in a diploma dated 1391. In this document the King Martino I confirmed to Enrico Ventimiglia, the concession made to his father, Guarnerio, by King Federico III ''de la terra e lu Castellu di Alcamu''. The construction of the castle was started by the

Peralta family Peralta may refer to: Places * Peralta, Navarre, village in the South of Navarre, Spain * Peralta, New Mexico, village, United States * Peralta (Mesoamerican site), pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico * ...

at about 1340 and was finished in 1350, under the

feudatories A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

Enrico and

Federico Chiaramonte Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. People with the given name Federico Artists * Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ. * Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, r ...

;Vita Russo, "Alcamo, Castello dei Conti di Modica"
/ref> it was a mansion and a defensive structure until the 16th century. If equipped with munitions and food, it could resist for a month and a half, quartering 30 companies of soldiers. In 1392 king Martino and his wife were hosted in the castle after the Chiaramontes' defeat, and on September 1, 1535 the emperor

Carlo V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

, during his return from his Tunis victory, lodged in one of its towers with his court and the infanta Eleonora d'Aragona. In 1534 the castle was attacked by the Islamic pirate Barbarossa. From 1583 and until 1589 it had three restorations. Since 1828, further to a sentence by Trapani Law Court, Alcamo municipality came into possession of the castle and in the following years it was used as a seat of

municipal office A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

s, prison and

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

. In 1870 there was another restoration. After the last restorations (made between 2000 and 2010), it has been used as the seat of the Ethnographic Museum and of the Historical Regional Vintage Wines Stock. Bifora del Castello dei Conti di Modica (1967)

Bifora del Castello dei Conti di Modica (1967)

Description

The castle has a rhomboidal shape, with a nearly rectangular courtyard. At the corners there are four battlemented towers (two square and two circular shaped), each of them with a particular function, that is: * In the square and highest one (called “the main tower”) they tortured prisoners; * the square and lowest one was reserved to sentinels; * one of the circular towers was used to give hospitality to distinguished guests. On the castle sides there are double and triple

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

s of Gothic-Catalan derivation. Originally it had three doors, placed on the south, west and north sides. In the past the castle was bounded by walls which served to hinder the castle's siege by war machines. According to a hypothesis, which is still to be confirmed, under the castle maybe there are also some prison ditches which were used between the end of the 14th and the 18th century for the kings' imprisonment.Alcamo: Ritrovate le fosse carcerarie dei re del Castello
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References

Sources

* * * {{cite book, last1= Marconi, first1= Paolo , title= Restauro dei monumenti: Cultura, progetti e cantieri 1967-2010, date= 8 October 2012 , publisher= Gangemi Editore spa, url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5u2Tg0H78zIC , pages= 150–157, isbn= 9788849274400 Castles in Alcamo

History

Description

See also

References

Sources