Pietratagliata O Gresti
The site appears to be typically Byzantine - long
and narrow like Aci, but
there is no early evidence of a castle here, other than in the
surrounding Greek and Roman sites uncovered by archaeology, viz
Morgantina some 2 miles to the south. In October 1210 Frederick II (d.1250)
confirmed the lands of Prior Robert of St Mary of Aidone. In this he
noted that Robert held some hamlet (casale)
called Rahalbasil
which was situated in the tenement of Enna (Castri Joannis)
between Fesine
hamlet and Castine
hamlet. Fessina in 1408 was described as the fee which
contained Pietratagliata castle. The lack of mention of the
castle, in such a document, does not preclude its existence.
In 1296 it was recorded that Michael Berga, the knight of Sigona, held
the fee of Sigone which had belonged to Peregrin and was in the
provinces of the lands of Nicosia
and Fessima.
Around the beginning of the fourteenth century King Frederick III
(d.1337) is said to have granted Fessina to Prandino Capirena da
Piazza. On his rebellion the lordship was reclaimed, but it
was only in 1358 that Pietratagliata was mentioned as a castrum.
From 1364 until the mid 1600s the fortress was held by the Gioeni
family. Frederick
IV (d.1377) confirmed the fee and fortress of Pietratagliata
to Perron Iuenio in 1374. It was only in 1408 that the
fortress was truly described as one, as castro Pietratagliate, cum feudo
Fesine.
In the seventeenth century the fortress became a farm, which had to be
rebuilt after the 11 January 1693 earthquake. Towards the end
of the eighteenth century it was still ‘a stone fortress in
the valley called Fessima... joined by a bridge to the nearby
cliff. It once belonged to Perrone di Gioieni as part of the
lordship of Aidone and today belongs to the prince of
Galati'. The castle seems to have been still largely intact
up to the Second World War, but has suffered several partial collapses,
the last being due to the earthquake of 13 December 1990.
Description
The castle stands upon a giant quartzite intrusion that cuts through
the valley of the River Gresti. It is split into 3
constituent parts. First there are the cave houses cut
beneath the east wall of the site and at the top of the west slope of
the cliff. Secondly, there is the tower which looks like a
keep with other masonry on the upper site and further underground
structures. Finally, there is the seventeenth century farm.
The castle proper was approached by a narrow path cut into the rock on
the south side of the intrusion. The farm ruins are built on
the rock to the north of the path, while a low wall gives some comfort
from the drop to the hillside below. The path leads up the
slope, passing the tower to a twin entrance, one to a destroyed
staircase that led to the upper floors, the other into the caves under
the castle. Through here is a large rock cut chamber with a
smaller one to the north and a rock cut window looking out over the
valley.
From the twin entrance a now destroyed staircase led to the summit of
the rock as well as to the tower and a hall block which was of 2
storeys and had 2 rooms in each floor. The tower is set on a
cut platform that runs down the eminence at a startling
slope. It rises vertically about 120' and surprisingly is
solid. It's makeup consists of layered rubble with flat
stones inbetween in typical Sicilian fashion. The corners are
finely quoined and at the south corner, in a destroyed small projecting
turret, was a spiral stair that led to the fighting platform on the
roof. Until 1970 there was a second tower, as high as the
first and abutting against it to the south. This had a fine
ogival door and a square window. When this tower collapsed it
pulled down the last remnants of the main tower's spiral stair turret.
The proposition has been put forward that the castle, with its 2 linked
square towers, is Swabian and resembled Frederick II's castle
of Menfi otherwise known as Burgimilluso. This was also
composed of two square towers joined together. Unfortunately
this fortress was destroyed, apart from a few uninteresting fragments,
in the earthquake of 1968. In France 2 double donjons exist
at Blanc and Excideuil, but these are much more impressive than that of
Pietratagliata. It has also been alleged that the ogival
castle entrance to the NE was similar to the doorways into the keeps of
Paterno (restored?) and Adrano (clearly an insertion).
To the east on the other side of the road was a Baroque
chapel which went with the later farmhouse. It is now
roofless and in
a state of near total collapse.
Why not join me at other Sicilian
castles? Information on this and other tours can be found at Scholarly
Sojourns.
Copyright©2019
Paul Martin Remfry