Castle of Calatubo
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Calatubo Castle (Latin: ''castrum Calathatubi''; Italian: ''Castello di Calatubo'') is a fortress located near the town of
Alcamo Alcamo (; scn, Àrcamu, italic=no) is the fourth-largest town and communes of Italy, commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distan ...
,
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, 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 ...
. The site has remains of a settlement of the
Elymians The Elymians ( grc-gre, Ἔλυμοι, ''Élymoi''; Latin: ''Elymi'') were an ancient tribal people who inhabited the western part of Sicily during the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity. Origins According to Hellanicus of Lesbos, the Elymians ...
and a necropolis. Being next to A29 motorway, it has fallen into disrepair and is therefore closed to visitors, although the Town Council of Alcamo has often expressed the desire to recover it.


History

The origins of the castle date back to the Norman period around 1093, the year in which
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 H ...
defined the boundaries of the diocese of
Mazara Mazara del Vallo (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, southwestern Sicily, Italy. It lies mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the Mazaro river. It is an agricultural and fishing centre and its port gives shelter to the ...
that included "Calatubo with all its dependencies". ''Pippo Lo Cascio, Comunicazioni e trasmissioni. La lunga storia della comunicazione umana dai fari al telegrafo'', Rubbettino Editore, 2002, , p. 159. In ancient times, around the castle there was the village of Calatubo, which based its business on the extraction of stones for water and wind millsPaolo Malanima, ''Pre-Modern European Economy: One Thousand Years (10th-19th Centuries)'', BRILL, 2009, , p. 75. from the quarries around the creek Finocchio, as mentioned by the Arab geographer
Muhammad al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي القرطبي الحسني السبتي; la, Dreses; 1100 – 1165), was a Muslim geographer, cartograp ...
in '' The Book of Roger'', written in 1154. The village of Calatubo was abandoned after the conquest by Frederick II and the castle lost its original function as a military fortress, turning into a farm. During this period, the castle joined warehouses, stables and other structures used for the administration of the agricultural fief of Calatubo. Since the Middle Ages, because of its visibility, the Calatubo Castle had an important strategic role: it was part of a line of towers and forts along the coast from
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
to
Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...
; this defensive line was used to transmit light signals in case of
Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
' attack. In particular, the castle of Calatubo guaranteed the flow of information that took place between the outposts of
Carini Carini ( la, Hyccara or Hyccarum, grc, Ὕκαρα and Ὕκαρον) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, by rail west-northwest of Palermo. It has a population of 37,752. History Timaeus, in the thirteenth ...
,
Partinico Partinico ( Sicilian: ''Partinicu'', Ancient Greek: ''Parthenikòn'', Παρθενικόν) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. It is from Palermo and from Trapani. Main sights *Church of ''S ...
and
Castellammare del Golfo Castellammare del Golfo (; scn, Casteddammari; la, Emporium Segestanorum or ) is a town and municipality in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name can be translated as "Sea Fortress on the Gulf", stemming from the medieval fortress in the h ...
. At the end of the nineteenth century in the second courtyard some warehouses were set up for the production of the wine "Calatubo". The castle remained in good condition until the
1968 Belice earthquake The 1968 Belice earthquake sequence took place in Sicily between 14 and 15 January. The largest shock measured 5.5 on the moment magnitude scale, with five others of magnitude 5+. The maximum perceived intensity was X (''Extreme'') on the Mer ...
. The use of the structure as a sheepfold and illegal excavations, which had as their targets the finds of the necropolis of the seventh century BC pertaining to the castle, have further ruined the castle. In 2007 it was bought for 60 thousand euros by the municipality of Alcamo and over the past few years (2003-2014) has been reported several times as part of the cultural initiative ''"I Luoghi del Cuore"'' sponsored by the ''Italian Environmental Fund'' (FAI), which has as its objective the protection and enhancement of the artistic and cultural heritage of Italy.


Description

The Calatubo Castle is actually an architectural complex, consisting of the structure of the original castle that has undergone several changes over the centuries. This complex is large 150×35
meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...
s and stands on a limestone rock that lies at an altitude of about 152 m above sea leveliCastelli.it, "Castello Di Calatubo"
and that dominate with its height the surrounding area. From the position of castle you can clearly see
Mount Bonifato Mount Bonifato (825 metres high) is a mountain in north western Sicilly in the province of Trapani. It is famous for the pine forest and the Nature Reserve Bosco di Alcamo. On its slopes they have found a proto-historic necropolis and traces ...
and the
Gulf of Castellammare The gulf of Castellammare is a large and deep natural inlet going from Capo Rama (near Terrasini, in the province of Palermo) and Capo San Vito near San Vito Lo Capo, in the province of Trapani. It is located on the western coast of Sicily and it ...
. The castle is inaccessible on three sides due to the steep walls of rock on which it is built. The only practicable access is located in the west, Rosa Di Liberto, Il castello di Calatubo. Genesi e caratteri di un inedito impianto fortificato siciliano fra l'XI ed il XII secolo in '' Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Moyen Âge, vol. 110, nº 2, 1998, pp. 607-663, DOI:10.3406/mefr.1998.3650 which leads to the first line of defense of the castle via a ramp with large steps. From the first line of defense, which includes among other things a well, a church hall and other premises, you can arrive at a court which communicates with the second circle of walls through a portal, up to the third circle of walls, which comprises an oblong tower. Finally the core of the castle, located in the southern part of the fortress, is rectangular with an area of 7×21.50 m.


Popular culture

A popular belief tells about tunnels that linked the Calatubo Castle with the Castle of the Counts of Modica and the tower of Ventimiglia on the
Mount Bonifato Mount Bonifato (825 metres high) is a mountain in north western Sicilly in the province of Trapani. It is famous for the pine forest and the Nature Reserve Bosco di Alcamo. On its slopes they have found a proto-historic necropolis and traces ...
.La Republica.it, "Calatubo le rovine dell'Islam "
/ref>


See also

*
Alcamo Alcamo (; scn, Àrcamu, italic=no) is the fourth-largest town and communes of Italy, commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distan ...
* Castle of Alcamo * Castle of Ventimiglia


Notes

{{reflist Castles in Alcamo