Castello Normanno

The Castello Normanno is a quadrilateral fortress, measuring 52 by 60 metres and rising to a height of 15. Its four cylindrical corner towers are its most distinctive feature: three rise from a sloping base, while the fourth is set into the southern angle, facing the mother church. The walls are built of stone and rubble, laid in both regular and irregular courses, bound with plaster.

Inside, a courtyard is entered through a pointed stone arch. A staircase leads up to the residential floor, with the castle’s rooms opening onto the courtyard. The facade is punctuated by a series of windows alternating with balconies. Yet for all this architectural clarity on paper, the castle is now difficult to discern. Centuries of alterations have blended it so thoroughly with the surrounding buildings that it no longer stands apart as a fortress, but has become merely another part of the urban fabric.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.