Ursino Castle

Ursino Castle is the thirteenth-century Hohenstaufen fortress in Catania that now contains the civic museum. Its historic identity is a castle with successive political, military, custodial, and museum roles, not a purpose-built art museum.¹

The municipal tourism history dates the start of Ursino Castle to late 1239 or early 1240, on Frederick II's initiative, and identifies Riccardo da Lentini as the official responsible for the works. The project formed part of a wider Frederick II fortification programme in eastern Sicily.²

The Castle was built on a promontory by the sea, close to the urban centre, with a moat and advanced defensive works. Its original coastal position was central to its strategic military purpose.^2,1

Municipal museum documentation describes a rigorously geometric double square perimeter around a large internal courtyard, with four corner towers and four intermediate towers, of which two survive. It gives the square plan as 63 metres to a side, with 30-metre corner towers and walls three metres thick.¹

The 1669 lava flow covered the bastions and tower bases and altered the coastline, ending the Castle's original strategic coastal role. The 1693 earthquake damaged the structure further, causing the collapse of the east and south half-towers and the south-east tower.^1,2

After its thirteenth-century fortress role, the Castle became an Aragonese royal residence, including a parliamentary role recorded by the City, and later served as a prison and barracks. The sources identify its continual reuse rather than a simple abandoned-then-museum chronology.^2,1