Province of Catania
The province of Catania (; ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Its capital was the city of Catania. It had an area of and a total population of about 1,116,917 as of 31 December 2014.
Historically known also as ...
,
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, southern Italy.
History
The castle was built in 1072 by Count
Roger I of Sicily
Roger I (; ; ; Norse: ''Rogeirr''; 1031 – 22 June 1101), nicknamed "Roger Bosso" and "Grand Count Roger", was a Norman nobleman who became the first Grand Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101.
As a member of the House of Hauteville, he parti ...
to protect the
Simeto
The Simeto (; ; ; ) 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 watershed ().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
Frederick II (, , , ; 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 Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI of the Ho ...
Blanche I of Navarre
Blanche I (, ; 6 July 1387 – 1 April 1441) was Queen of Navarre from the death of her father, King Charles III, in 1425 until her own death. She had been Queen of Sicily from 1402 to 1409 by marriage to King Martin I, serving as regent of Si ...
, as the castle had been included in the so-called ''Camera Reginale'' estates ("Queen's Chamber") by King
Frederick III of Sicily
Frederick III (also Frederick II, ', ', '); 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 Ara ...
.
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. Merlons are sometimes pierced by narrow, vertical embrasures, or tooth-like slits designed for observation and fire. The sp ...
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 windows, in white
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
.
The first-storey houses several service chambers and the Chapel of St. John, decorated with precious 13th-century frescoes. The
piano nobile
( Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ) is the architectural term for the principal floor of a '' palazzo''. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the house ...
houses a large Weapons Hall. The king's residence was located on the upper floor.