The Castello di Bivona was a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the town of

Bivona Bivona is an Italian ''comune'' in the Province of Agrigento, Sicily. Geography Bivona is located at the foot of Monti Sicani, in the mainland of Agrigento, on the boundary with the province of Palermo. The communal territory is crossed by the Al ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. It was built in the 14th century, and it was partially destroyed when it was sacked in 1529. The castle is now in ruins, and a few remains can still be seen.

History

The first reliable evidence of feudalism in Bivona dates back to 11 October 1299, when

Robert of Anjou Robert of Anjou ( it, Roberto d'Angiò), known as Robert the Wise ( it, Roberto il Saggio; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Ita ...

, the King of Naples, granted the castles of Bivona and Calatamauro to Giacomo de Catania. The castle mentioned in this decree was probably a

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is t ...

which had been built as part of the

walls of Bivona Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure *Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States *Walls, Mississippi, United States *Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, Can ...

around the time of the

War of the Sicilian Vespers The War of the Sicilian Vespers or just War of the Vespers was a conflict that started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles of Anjou in 1282 and ended in 1302 with the Peace of Caltabellotta. It was fought in Sicily, ...

. Eventually, the castle began to be built in the first half of the 14th century. In 1359, Guido and Francesco

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; lij, label= Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label=Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label=Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...

almost destroyed it, but it was rebuilt within the same year by Corrado Doria. The land and castle of Bivona was passed to Nicholas Peralta in 1397. In 1406, it belonged to Francesco Castellar. The castle was looted and partially destroyed in 1529, during the ''Secondo caso di Sciacca'', a conflict between the de Luna and Perollo noble families. Today, the castle is in ruins. Some parts of it are embedded in structures of a later period.

Layout

The layout of the castle has been determined from old maps of Bivona. Its dimensions were as follows, giving it an area of around : *North side: *East side: *South side: *West side: A description of the castle is found in the ''Atti della Città di Palermo'' of 1892 by Fedele Pollaci Nuccio and Domenico Gnoffo.

References

{{Authority control

Buildings and structures in the Province of Agrigento Buildings and structures completed in the 14th century Buildings and structures demolished in the 16th century Medieval Italian architecture