Ursino Castle Museum

CASTLE OF
THE GULF

The Ursino Castle was granted by the State to the Municipality of Catania in 1930 to be used as a Civic Museum. Built on the coast in 1239 with a strategic-defensive function by Emperor Frederick II of Swabia of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, it became its symbolic representation. The imposing medieval Gothic architecture, the soaring towers, the architectural decoration of the capitals, symbolize the maximum medieval expression of imperial power.

To begin the visit it is advisable to take a quick tour around, in order to admire the grandiose size of the manor and observe the effect of the enormous towers that rise imposingly from the moat. In addition to the fortification works, it will be possible to observe the lava flow of 1669, which, dividing itself into two arms, enclosed the castle without damaging it.

In the southern part, the sixteenth-century windows give the castle the appearance of a sumptuous palace, while on the side from the east you can see the various openings, sometimes in the form of slits, sometimes ogival where under one of them you can observe a characteristic pentalpha in lava stone inserted into the limestone pediment. The main entrance, which overlooks Piazza Federico di Svevia, was protected by a drawbridge and defensive walls whose remains are still visible. Before passing through the large ogival door that leads into the castle, take a look at the small aedicule, located at the top, on the right, depicting the Swabian eagle clutching a hare, or according to some, a lamb in its claws.

Protagonist, over the centuries, of various events, witness of history and the city's public institutions, the Castle was destined for various uses and functions, palace, fortress, prison, barracks and, after 1860, it passed to the dependencies of the state.

The name of the castle probably refers to its original position: "Ursino" derives from Castrum Sinus, i.e. "Castle of the Gulf".

THE STRUCTURE

The structure of the Castle expresses the essential aspects of Frederick's architecture: a rigorously geometric plan defined by a double perimeter square with a large internal courtyard in the centre. A perfectly regular and symmetrical structure that repeats itself, marked by four corner towers and four towers medians, two of which still exist.

The building is square in shape with 30 meters high towers at its corners, on the north and west sides two median towers with a semicircular base. It measures 63 meters on each side with walls 3 meters wide.

The simple entrance has a sculpture above it in a niche depicting an eagle grabbing a hare. Inside there is a beautiful courtyard with an external Catalan-Gothic style staircase.

NATURAL DISASTERES

The natural disasters of the seventeenth century determined the current appearance of the Ursino Castle: the lava flow of 1669 covered the ramparts and the scarp bases of the towers, but above all it altered the coastline with the consequent loss of the strategic position of the fortress. Just twenty-four years after the eruption, the earthquake of 1693 further damaged the structure, causing the semi-towers to the east, south and also south-east to collapse.

In the Napoleonic era it regained its role as a fortress to defend the city. The castle passed to the Royal State in 1860 and was used as barracks until the beginning of the twentieth century.

THE MUNICIPALITY OF CATANIA

In 1932 the Municipality of Catania faced the difficult task of restoring the Castle, aimed at recovering the original thirteenth-century building and the noble sixteenth-century forms, freeing them from the additions of the following centuries. After two years, in 1934, the Ursino Castle was opened to the public as the seat of the Civic Museum of Catania.

Between 1988 and 2004 various restoration interventions were carried out by the BB. CC. AA. Superintendence of Catania, with European funding.

THE COURTYARD

The center of the Castle is made up from the internal courtyard, also with a square plan. If you enter from the north side, you are faced with the beautiful internal facade of the southern wing, which in the sixteenth century was modified with five windows in the late Renaissance style.

Very suggestive on the south side is the beautiful portal that gives access to the "Salone San Giorgio" on which stand out the inscriptions and graffiti made by the prisoners at the time in which the castle was used as a prison, between the end of the 16th and 18th centuries. Some are depictions of sailing vessels or defense constructions, others are poetic inscriptions, such as the one in Sicilian which reads:

“Chistu è locu miseru e infelici, locu di crudeltà, di vita amara ca si cunta e placa, si parra e dici, e c’ha di scuntintizza si va a gara, ca’ si fanu cuntenti li nimici, cà paria cà fortuna no ripara, a sto locu si provanu l’amici, e a stu locu s’imprindi e s’impara”.

Or the other Latinian:

“Ora chi privu su di libertati…”

Remarkable is the Solomon's knot depicted on the right side of the wall, next to the window overlooking the interior of the museum, a symbol used in art early Christian that represented the union between man and divinity, i.e. the microcosm and the macrocosm.
Notable are the numerous ancient finds arranged along the four sides, mostly from Roman sites in Catania and the various fragments architectural elements from the Roman theater of Catania.
Also interesting is the presence of two sarcophagi from the 4th-5th century. A.D. coming respectively from the cemetery area of Dottor Consoli street and from a necropolis near the church of S. Teresa.

THE THEATER

What is now called "Sala del Teatro" was originally an area of the Castle dedicated to theatrical and musical performances. This room, like all the connecting rooms, has a cross vault, the ribs of which rest on elegant corbels and not on capitals. Some pieces are exhibited there, finds from the area of the Roman city theater, recovered by Prince Biscari during the excavations that he carried out on the site in 1750.

The Romans built the theater in the republican age on the remains of the Greek one, which in the fourth century BC was built on the slope of the hill of the acropolis of Montevergine, today's Piazza Dante, enlarging and enriching it with marble.
Built in lava, the theater was equipped with a large cavea, with a capacity of 7,000 spectators.
Large marble plinth, placed next to the director door of the stage of the theater, on which a column of considerable dimensions must have been superimposed. It depicts on the main side panoply (trophy) between two kneeling winged Victories, on the left side barbarian prisoners, on the right side female figures. This iconographic motif celebrated the victory of the Romans against the Barbarians, and underlined how perfectly Catania was integrated into the life of the Empire. Biscari collection.

THE STABLES

The ceiling of the room once used as a stable is a large pointed vault without cruises, but dotted with holes, which are nothing more than amphorae upside down, arranged symmetrically, with the aim of lightening it.

At the back on the left, covered by a glass plate, there are the remains of an ancient staircase, probably used in the 16th century. to access the first floor, demolished in 1932, when a restoration was carried out which aimed to bring the room back to its original state.
The artworks from the Roman era found in the city are exhibited in the room.
Among the works in the Stables Hall of the Museum there are two fragments of a frieze representing a Gigantomachìa dating back to III century AD and a male torso dedicated to Jupiter, found near the convent of Sant'Agostino by Prince Biscari in 1737.

THE PARLIAMENT ROOM

The area called "del Parlamento" seems to have been intended to host receptions and meetings, in fact the name assigned to it derives precisely from the fact that during the Aragonese reign, from 1283, the Castle was the seat of the assemblies of the first Sicilian Parliament. The large windows date back to XVI century., Period in which the viceroy De Vega elected the castle as his residence.

Almost certainly the Parliament area was accessed from a staircase that started from the courtyard and crossed the west wing, where it is still possible admire the remains below the floor level of Room 4 "Stables".
Today the Parliament room houses some works from the picture gallery that Giovan Battista Finocchiaro, president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Palermo, had collected throughout his life, and which he bequeathed to his hometown of Catania so that the entire community could enjoy it.
In addition, there are works by the most known Sicilian painters of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries together to some panels, even earlier, then attributed to schools of great masters of the international art scene if not directly to them (Wobreck, Polidoro by Caravaggio, Lanfranco, Stomer, Paladini, Preti).

THE ROOM OF SAINT GEORGE

The large San Giorgio hall was once called "della cappella" because, in the wall of the southern side, through an elegant portal fifteenth century, one entered the Court chapel dedicated to San Giorgio, built by the Aragonese inside the median tower on the south side of the Castle. The remains of the columns, which can still be seen today, show that originally this room was surmounted by three cross vaults, which in the 16th century were replaced by a wooden ceiling. In the sixteenth century the Spanish Viceroys built large rectangular windows in this room to make it brighter.

St. George was a Roman soldier according to a consolidated and widespread tradition, a Christian martyr, venerated as a saint megalomartyr from almost all Christian Churches that admit the cult of saints.
In the Middle Ages the legend of the fight of St. George against the dragon became the symbol of the fight of good against evil and, for this, the world of chivalry saw his ideals embodied in it.
St. George is the patron saint of England, Portugal, Lithuania, Montenegro, Georgia and Ethiopia.

THE TOWERS

The towers that make up the Castle today are: the Tower of Flags, the Tower of Salt, the Warehouse Tower and the Tower of Martyrs. They have the common characteristic of being externally circular and internally octagonal, as demonstrated by the perfect sunbursts of the umbrella vaults.

The Tower of Flags takes its name from the flags and/or royal and chivalrous insignia that waved above it. It has an octagonal plan and the vault decorated with a ribbed support that hangs like an umbrella.
The Tower of Salt takes its name from its probable use as a salt deposit. Worthy of note is the small head on which one of the shelves rests support the ribs, all the others rest on different floral motifs.
The Warehouse Tower was damaged by the earthquake of 1693, which made its inside thinner, changing its characteristic octagonal shape. The recent restorations have resulted in a work of consolidation and renovation, today it houses the staircase and the lift, useful for accessing the 1st and 2nd levels of the castle.
The Tower of the Martyrs is defined as such or "of torture" as it was used to lock up and persecute prisoners.
It is illuminated by a typical thin and elongated loophole, and has an opening on the wall that was used for artillery in the 17th century.

THE MOAT

The south-east external area of the Castle, after massive restoration work carried out by the Superintendency of Catania, was handed over to the city at the end of 2009. Part of the ancient fortification system of the city was brought to light in the moat, after having removed part of the casting lava that had lapped the Castle in 1669.

The work was created – starting from 1542 – based on a project by the military engineer Ferramolino da Bergamo, taking into account the walls pre-existing dating back to the fourteenth century and built by the will of Frederick III of Aragon.
The citizens of Catania themselves financed the construction of the defensive wall, because Catania had been excluded from the program of fortification of the main cities of the Kingdom of Sicily, promoted by Emperor Charles V to counter the incessant Turkish attacks.
At the corner between the south and east sides, the excavation works have brought to light the station house at the castle pass built between 1621 and 1637 to shelter the soldiers.

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CASTLE OF THE GULF