The Castle of the Counts of Modica (or Castle of Alcamo) is a medieval castle situated in the town centre of Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy.
In 1340 King Peter II of Sicily had given Raimondo Peralta terram Alcami et prefatum castrum Bonifati, without any mention about the castle; in fact, it is quoted, for the first time, in a diploma dated 1391. In this document the King Martino I confirmed to Enrico Ventimiglia, the concession made to his father, Guarnerio, by King Federico III de la terra e lu Castellu di Alcamu.

The construction of the castle was started by the Peralta family at about 1340 and was finished in 1350, under the feudatories Enrico and Federico Chiaramonte; it was a mansion and a defensive structure until the 16th century. If equipped with munitions and food, it could resist for a month anda a half, quartering 30 companies of soldiers.

In 1392 king Martino and his wife were hosted in the castle after the Chiaramontes' defeat, and on September 1st 1535 the emperor Carlo V, during his return from his Tunis victory, lodged in one of its towers with his court and the infanta Eleonora d'Aragona.

In 1534 the castle was attacked by the Islamic pirate Barbarossa.[3] From 1583 and until 1589 it had three restorations.

Since 1828, further to a sentence by Trapani Law Court, Alcamo municipality came into possession of the castle and in the following years it was used as a seat of municipal offices, prison and stable.

In 1870 there was another restoration. After the last restorations (made between 2000 and 2010), it has been used as the seat of the Ethnographic Museum and of the Historical Regional Vintage Wines Stock.

Castle of the Counts of Modica (Alcamo)

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The Calatubo Castle (Latin: catrum Calathatubi; Arabic: قلعة ﺍوبي - Qal'at 'Awbi; Italian: Castello di Calatubo) is a fortress located near the town of Alcamo, Sicily, southern Italy.

The site has remains of a settlement of the Elymians and a necropolis.

Being next to A29 motorway, it has fallen into disrepair and is therefore closed to visitors, although the Town Council of Alcamo has often expressed the desire to recover it.
History
The origins of the castle date back to some years before 1093, the year in which Roger I of Sicily defined the boundaries of the diocese of Mazara that included "Calatubo with all its dependencies".

In ancient times, around the castle there was the village of Calatubo, which based its business on the extraction of stones for water and wind mills[5] from the quarries around the creek Finocchio, as mentioned by the Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi in The Book of Roger, written in 1154.

The village of Calatubo was abandoned after the conquest by Frederick II and the castle lost its original function as a military fortress, turning into a farm. During this period, the castle joined warehouses, stables and other structures used for the administration of the agricultural fief of Calatubo.

Since the Middle Ages, because of its visibility, the Calatubo Castle had an important strategic role: it was part of a line of towers and forts along the coast from Palermo to Trapani; this defensive line was used to transmit light signals in case of Saracens' attack. In particular, the castle of Calatubo guaranteed the flow of information that took place between the outposts of Carini, Partinico and Castellammare del Golfo.

At the end of the nineteenth century in the second courtyard some warehouses were set up for the production of the wine "Calatubo".

The castle remained in good condition until the 1968 Belice earthquake. The use of the structure as a sheepfold and illegal excavations, which had as their targets the finds of the necropolis of the seventh century BC pertaining to the castle, have further ruined the castle.

In 2007 it was bought for 60 thousand euros by the municipality of Alcamo and over the past few years (2003-2014) has been reported several times as part of the cultural initiative "I Luoghi del Cuore" sponsored by the Italian Environmental Fund (FAI), which has as its objective the protection and enhancement of the artistic and cultural heritage of Italy.

Description
The Calatubo Castle is actually an architectural complex, consisting of the structure of the original castle that has undergone several changes over the centuries. This complex is large 150×35 meters and stands on a limestone rock that lies at an altitude of about 152 m above sea level and that dominate with its height the surrounding area. From the position of castle you can clearly see Mount Bonifato and the Gulf of Castellammare.

The castle is inaccessible on three sides due to the steep walls of rock on which it is built. The only practicable access is located in the west, which leads to the first line of defense of the castle via a ramp with large steps. From the first line of defense, which includes among other things a well, a church hall and other premises, you can arrive at a court which communicates with the second circle of walls through a portal, up to the third circle of walls, which comprises an oblong tower. Finally the core of the castle, located in the southern part of the fortress, is rectangular with an area of 7×21.50 m.

The Calatubo Castle 

The castle is located at a calcareous summit (400 ft) and it controls all the current urban centre. The present village was developed to the East since the 16th-17th centuries, leaving the castle protected from this urban growth. The Castello Eufemio gives its name to the village: Qal’at Fîmî, that means Eufemio’s castle, and it appears in the Idrisi’s documents as a fortress with village annexed. In 1239 the castle becomes part of castra exempta of Federico II, i.e one of the castles controlled directly by the throne in their fight against Muslims. It remained this way until 1336 when the castle passes into the hands of different landowners. The castle will be converted into a prison from half of 17th century until 1868, when it was abandoned.

The excavations made at Castello Eufemio at the end of last century was focused on the restoration and conservation of the more recent structures. During this excavations different materials (pottery) from the 11th-12th centuries were located, confirming a possible occupation during that period. The main objective of our excavation will be the documentation of structures related to this chronology or to previous phases of the castle.

https://docs.google.com

Castello Eufemio 

Castello normanno (Salemi)
Il Castello normanno, o Normanno-svevo, di Salemi, è un castello costruito sulla sommità della collina dove sorge la città di Salemi, al centro della valle del Belice.
Fatto costruire da Ruggero il normanno intorno al 1077, su preesistenti fortificazioni greco-romano-arabe. A quel periodo risale l'iscrizione religiosa I.C.N.C.R.I. Il geografo El Edrisi ne scrive già nel XII secolo.. Fu rimaneggiato da Federico II di Svevia nel XIII secolo.

L'11 dicembre 1441 nel castello di Salemi si formò una confederazione costituita da Salemi, Trapani, Mazara, Monte San Giuliano, Castelvetrano e Partanna, che si impegnava alla difesa della regina Bianca d'Aragona.

Nel 1789 fu adibito a carcere, e il 14 maggio 1860 da questo castello Garibaldi issò (sulla torre tonda) la bandiera tricolore, proclamando Salemi “capitale d’Italia” e la dittatura garibaldina. Dal 1934 divenne biblioteca comunale.

Danneggiato dal terremoto del Belice del 1968, fu chiuso 35 anni per restauri e lavori di consolidamento da parte della Regione Siciliana, e riaperto nel 2002 . I lavori sono stati completati definitivamente nel 2010.
Architettura
Il castello ha un impianto abbastanza unitario, poco rimaneggiato dopo l'epoca normanno-sveva. L'edificio ha un impianto leggermente ruotato in direzione nord-est/sud-ovest. Possiede tre torri angolari, una cilindrica (ovest) e due quadre (est, sud) mentre una quarta torre (quadra?) esistente nell'angolo nord è probabilmente crollata nel secolo XVII. Nessuna delle torri quadre supera in altezza il terrazzo sommitale del torrione cilindrico, ancora oggi il punto più alto della città .

Oggi è sede museale e vi si svolgono concerti e convegni.
