Legend of the Castle of Donna Fugata
Mboesch - CC3.0
The Legend of Donna Fugata Castle is linked to the figure of the Count Bernardo Cabrera, lord of the County of Modica.
It is said that he was a skilled strategist, shrewd, cruel and powerful to the point of being feared even by the sovereigns of Palermo who did nothing to reduce his power.
Among his misdeeds is the story of the White Princess of Navarre. , who, being widowed, became the object of desire of the perfidious Count Cabrera and was locked up in a room of the castle. It is said that the princess managed to escape through the tunnels that led into the countryside surrounding the palace.
This legend wants to explain the origin of the castle's name, "Donnafugata", that is, "escaped woman", although the term " Donnafugata "comes from the Arabic" Ain-jafat "and means" Source of health ". Furthermore, the legend has no historical foundation because at the time the princess lived, in the fourteenth century, the palace did not yet exist.
Count Bernardo Cabrera has been the subject of a series of popular stories including, the best known, he said that he was hiding a treasure consisting of an all-gold goat, which would jump out of the place where it was hidden after a complicated spell.
