The castle of Racalmuto: the nest stage in the hometown of Leonardo Sciascia

It is the hometown of Leonardo Sciascia and the statue of this great writer is one of the first things to see. And now, the next stage of the tour to discover of the castles of Sicily: the castello di Racalmuto.

The history

• The castle has Norman origins: it was built during the period of the barony of Roberto Malcovenant, member of a powerful Norman family arrived in Sicily following Roger II of Sicily.
• Later, Frederick of Aragon gave both the castle and the fief to Federico II Chiaramonte.
• Under Chiaramonte family, the entire village of Racalmuto, a small farming town founded by the Arabs, experienced a period of prosperity.
• Chiaramonte family, in the early Fourteenth century, re-founded the castle of Malcovenant and turned it into an impressive structure.

The castle

The Racalmuto castle is a great example of military architecture of the Swabian period: the trapezoidal plan, the towers with circular base, the portal and secondary entrances. Declared national monument in the early Twentieth century, the towers are its most interesting parts:

• The left tower has its original aspect.
• The right tower was renovated recently: from the top of the tower, you can admire a unique view.

How to get there

Racalmuto is located in the province of Agrigento. To get there from Agrigento, take the state highway 189 and then the county road 15 following the road signs to Racalmuto. The journey by car takes about 30 minutes.

Previous stage: il castello di Mussomeli | Next stage: il castello di Favara

Image source: Di Tommaso from Palermo, Italia – IMG_6408 – racalmuto (AG) – qui è nato leonardo sciasciaUploaded by Markos90, CC BY-SA 2.0