Le Castella

The islet of Le Castella is at the eastern end of the Gulf of Squillace. The fort is connected to the coast by a thin strip of land, and it creates a scenic symbiosis between “built architecture” and “natural architecture”. It is in the environmental context of significant naturalistic value of the Protected Sea Area of Capo Rizzuto, founded in 1991.The original unit of the fort, goes back to the Angevin Age, and the massive cylindrical tower as well. Now it has a sixteenth-century shape and it dominates the fortress complex with its magnificence. The original plant of 13th century was built to defend the Gulf of Capo Rizzuto, and it is part of the Angevin system of fortifications. Towards the end of the 15th century the fortress passed in Aragonese hands and between 1510 and 1526 Earl Carafa implemented, according to the Spanish construction uses, the quadrangular rammed bastions.The tower, divided into three floors connected by a spiral staircase, presents at the base a cavity for the collection and conservation of rainwater. Inside of fortress there are typical remains of an urban agglomeration, a kind of small village with shops and the ruins of a little church, called Cappella del Borgo, built in the Aragonese age.