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Aragonese Castle today

Italy · Still standing

Aragonese Castle

Castello Aragonese

Aragonese Castle (Castello Aragonese) in Reggio Calabria, Italy is a coastal-era fortified castle dominated by very large cylindrical drum towers and thick curtain walls. The surviving exterior presents continuous corbelled bands below the parapets and broad, low towers placed along a raised stone scarp.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

1540

Today

Still standing

As it stood in 1540

What Aragonese Castle looked like in its prime.

A compact fortress composed of two very large cylindrical drum towers linked by a thick curtain wall; masonry is coarse, light-grey stone with horizontal corbel bands (a row of projecting corbels) forming the support for the parapet walk. Towers are broadly rounded with a low, flat roofline and crenellated parapets; the base sits on a raised stone scarp above street level. Trees and planted palms lie at the foot of the walls; the silhouette is dominated by the round towers and the continuous corbel table.

Its story

The story of Aragonese Castle.

A castle is documented on this hill from 536, when Justinian's general Belisarius, finding Reggio without defences, ordered its walls restored to guard the harbour linking Italy to Constantinople. The fortress passed from the Byzantines to the Normans in 1059, who kept court here, and to Charles I of Anjou in 1266; under Emperor Frederick II it was rebuilt as a square fort with four corner towers.

Restored in 1327 after the Angevin–Aragonese wars and refortified in 1381 on the orders of Queen Joanna I, the castle took its present character in 1458, when King Ferdinand had Baccio Pontelli add two great crenellated drum towers, a ravelin and a moat. In 1539 Pedro Álvarez de Toledo enlarged it to shelter nearly a thousand people during Turkish raids.

In the Risorgimento it served as a political prison and execution ground, and Garibaldi took city and castle in 1860. The town bought it in 1874 intending demolition; a compromise in 1892 levelled much of the fort but spared the two Aragonese towers, declared a national monument in 1897. The 1908 earthquake destroyed the older Swabian core, leaving the towers that stand today.

Step inside

5 places to explore in 1540.

The record describes 5 distinct spots at Aragonese Castle, including 1 interior: parapet and wall-walk viewed from the battlements. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.

street approach facing twin drum towersbase of southern cylindrical tower (exterior close-up)lateral profile of curtain wall and corbel tableparapet and wall-walk viewed from the battlementsmasonry detail of tower and corbels

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A strategy game played on Aragonese Castle’s real ground plan: the same surveyed walls shown in the archive below. Post your finite garrison on the battlements between assaults, then hold out as rams, siege towers, trebuchets and sappers arrive in ever-worse waves.

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From the archive

Aragonese Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.

The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.

Ischia, Castello Aragonese., Aragonese Castle

Ischia, Castello Aragonese.

· State Archives of Baden-Württemberg (via Europeana)

CC BY

Gezicht op het Castello Aragonese bij Ischia, Aragonese Castle

Gezicht op het Castello Aragonese bij Ischia

· Rijksmuseum (via Europeana)

Public domain

Questions about Aragonese Castle

What is the history of Aragonese Castle?

Aragonese Castle has documented origins in the 6th century, when Belisarius ordered its walls restored to protect Reggio’s harbour and its connections with Constantinople. The Normans took it in 1059 and established their court there. Its present character dates mainly from the 15th century, when Ferdinand added two drum towers, while later demolition and the 1908 earthquake left those towers standing.

What is inside Aragonese Castle?

Inside Aragonese Castle, the documented spaces include the parapet and wall-walk viewed from the battlements. The castle also had a circular room in the southern tower, which was used by an environmental association from 1983 to 1986. Its earlier internal capacity was enlarged in 1539 to shelter nearly 1,000 people during Turkish raids.

Why was Aragonese Castle built, and what was it used for?

Aragonese Castle was built as a defensive fortress protecting Reggio and its harbour. Its role later changed: it sheltered people during Turkish invasions, served as a prison, became a political prison and execution ground during the Risorgimento, and was later used as a barracks and an observatory. After restoration, it became a space for cultural and social events.

Where is Aragonese Castle?

Aragonese Castle is in Reggio Calabria, in the city’s Piazza Castello. It stands between Via Aschenez and Via Possidonea, on the site of a fortified hill near the historic harbour area. Reggio Calabria is the administrative locality associated with the castle.

When was Aragonese Castle built?

Aragonese Castle was first documented in the 6th century, although the date when the present castle was first raised is not recorded. It developed in several phases: a square fortress with four corner towers under Frederick II, major additions in 1458, and enlargement in 1539. Its current extent was enlarged by Ferdinand I of Aragon.

Was Aragonese Castle ever attacked or besieged?

Aragonese Castle was attacked and fell to Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860, when the city and castle were taken. It also sheltered people during Turkish invasions, but the supplied material does not give dates or outcomes for those attacks. Earlier restoration and refortification followed wars between the Angevins and Aragonese.

What did Aragonese Castle look like in its prime?

At its prime, Aragonese Castle was a compact fortress formed by two very large cylindrical drum towers joined by a thick curtain wall. It had coarse light-grey stonework, continuous horizontal corbel bands, low rounded towers, flat rooflines and crenellated parapets. The whole structure stood on a raised stone scarp above street level.

Is Aragonese Castle still standing, or is it a ruin?

Aragonese Castle is still standing, but only its two Aragonese towers and part of the bastion survive from the larger fortress. Much of the castle was demolished in stages, while the older Swabian core was destroyed by the 1908 earthquake. The surviving exterior is described as intact, and the restored castle is used for cultural and social events.

Who built Aragonese Castle?

The 15th-century additions to Aragonese Castle were commissioned by King Ferdinand in 1458 and carried out under Baccio Pontelli’s direction. They included two large crenellated towers, a ravelin and a moat. The supplied material does not identify the builder of the original fortress or a separate architect for the whole castle.

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