Castle dei Luna in Sciacca
The Castello Luna di Sciacca stands on the living rock, in a dominant position, and is inserted in the perimeter of the ancient city walls. It represents one of the most interesting examples of civil and military architecture of the 1300s existing in Sicily .
The imposing medieval castle of Sciacca was built in 1382 by Guglielmo Peralta, count of Caltabellotta, who he became one of the four vicars of the kingdom of Sicily after the death of King Frederick III. The Castle passed into the hands of the Luna counts when Nicolò Peralta, son of Gugliemo, one of his three daughters, died, married to Count Artale de Luna, Catalan and uncle of King Martino.
The fortress is made up of a wall, the keep, the count's palace and the cylindrical tower.
The enclosure, formed by high and sturdy walls, has a polygonal plan.
In the perimeter of the enclosure, to the north, stood the quadrangular keep that had the function of guarding the enclosure, the external terrain and the internal courtyard. Today only the base remains.
Always inserted in the perimeter of the wall, but in the southern area, there is a cylindrical two-storey tower.
Finally, the count's palace occupied the west side of the castle, between the keep and the cylindrical tower. The building, with a rectangular plan, was composed of a ground floor, used for servants and an upper floor which was the residence of the Count and his family. Today the high external wall with four large windows remains of the building.
The entrance was located to the north and was equipped with a drawbridge. From it you entered the courtyard where to the south there were the stables and the quarters of the men of arms, as well as a chapel dedicated to San Gregorio.
The Castello dei Luna di Sciacca is linked to the “case of Sciacca”, the centuries-old bloody struggle between the Luna family and the Perollo family, in conflict over a secret love.
