Finest Norman castles in Italy
Venere Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Andrea Schaffer
Castello di Venere ('Venus Castle'), dating from the Norman period, was built on top of the ancient Temple of Venus, where Venus Ericina was worshipped. According to legend, the temple was founded by Aeneas. It was well known throughout the Mediterranean area in the ancient age, and an important cult was celebrated in it.
Castello di Aci
Photo from Flickr, copyright Luigi Strano
The Castello Normanno ('Norman Castle'), or alternatively the Castello di Aci, is situated on a rocky outcrop jutting out into the sea. Its precise date of construction is uncertain, but it was important to the development of its region during the Middle Ages. During the War of the Sicilian Vespers, it was subject to Roger of Lauria. It was besieged more than once, and was briefly controlled by the Spanish. It is currently a museum.
Caccamo Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Lahiri Cappello
The Castello di Caccamo is among the largest and best preserved Norman castles in Sicily, and one of the largest in Italy. The castle is built on a steep cliff.
Venosa Castle
The Venosa Castle is a historic fortified building located in the homonymous town in the province of Potenza. Commonly referred to as the Aragonese Castle because it was built by Duke Pirro del Balzo during the Aragonese dynasty period, it is situated at the southern end of the plateau occupied by the urban area of the city.
Melfi Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright kylepounds2001
Melfi Castle in Basilicata is one of the most important medieval castles in Southern Italy. It was built in the late 11th century by the Normans in a strategic location that serves as a gateway between Campania and Apulia.
Milazzo Castle
The Castello di Milazzo is located on the summit of a hill overlooking the town, on a site first fortified in the Neolithic era. The castle was built as a result of the strategic importance of the Milazzo peninsula, which commands the Gulf of Patti, the body of water that separates Sicily from the Aeolian Islands. It also commands one of Sicily"s most important natural harbours.
Squillace Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Nikonucida
Squillace Castle was built on the ruins of a monastery when the Normans conquered Squillace in 1044. Throughout the years it was conquered and ruled by various families – one of which being the Borgia family. The Borgia family was an Italian-Spanish noble family that become prominent during the Italian Renaissance. Between 1494 and 1735, Squillace was governed by the Borgia Princes.
Castello Normanno
Photo from Flickr, copyright Panegyrics of Granovetter
The Castello Normanno ('Norman Castle') in Paternò was built in 1072 by Count Roger I of Sicily to protect the Simeto valley from Islamic raids. The first nucleus of the fortress was soon enlarged, and it subsequently lost its original military functions. 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 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.
Sannicandro di Bari Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Martin Wippel
The Norman-Hohenstaufen Castle in Sannicandro di Bari is composed of two distinct parts, put into each other, built in separate periods by the Byzantines and the Hohenstaufens. Its construction dates back to 916, the initiative of the Byzantine general Niccolò Piccingli, who had ordered the construction of a fortress for the defence of Apulia against the Saracens. The original core of the castle, of Byzantine origin, consists of a sturdy brick wall of stone that runs along the trapezoidal layout, equipped with six four-sided towers distributed in the four vertices and the midpoint of the two bases of the trapezoid.