CONSORZIO FINOCCHIO IGP
DI ISOLA CAPO RIZZUTO
Piazza Maria Montessori, 19/22

88900 CROTONE – Italy
P.IVA 03927340798
T. +39 0962965343

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PRIVACY POLICY

COOKIE POLICY

LE CASTELLA | CROTONE

Initiative funded by the EAFRD-RDP Calabria 2014/2022 - Measure 3 - Intervention 3.2.1 - CUP: J18H24000520003

Aragonese Castle

5000

hectares of cultivated land

on the Ionian coast of Calabria

The Castle, presumably erected in the 13th century to control and defend the entire territory, was part of a vast defensive apparatus (hence the name in plural). Inside the structure, the square limestone blocks dating back to the Greek period (6th century BC) are still visible, laid with a "checkerboard" technique, and scant traces of Roman masonry. The current building, which overlooks the islet, is an Aragonese work (15th century), based on two defense nuclei: the first, which exploits pre-existing structures, the second, with keep functions, created from scratch on the shallow water in front.

The fortress has an irregular plan and, inside, a cylindrical watchtower of clear Angevin derivation (14th century) is incorporated, characterized by a splendid stone spiral staircase. Count Andrea Carafa, between 1510 and 1526, had the powerful quadrangular bastions built. The entire area of Capo Rizzuto is nestled in the evocative "Saracen Coast," whose history intertwines, not by chance, with that of the famous pirate Occhialì Pasha (Uluç Alì, Le Castella 1519 - Istanbul, 1587). The young Giovanni Dionigi Galeni, captured by the Algerian corsair Khayr al-Dīn Barbarossa in 1536, at Le Castella, renounced the Christian religion to kill a Turk who had slapped him. He married the daughter of another converted Calabrian, Ja' far Pasha, and began a brilliant career as a corsair, which led him to command the fleets of Alexandria and Tripoli, eventually becoming Governor of Algiers (1568). He participated in the Battle of Lepanto as commander of the Ottoman formation. In his honor, the bust in the square dedicated to him ("Piazza Uccialì").

ADDRESS

Le Castella KR

Via Rigon, 9,

Hours

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