Legend of the Castle of Caccamo
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The legend of the Castle of Caccamo is linked to a real historical event known as the "conspiracy of the barons".
Following the revolt of 1160, a group of Sicilian barons, led by Matteo Bonello, laid a deadly ambush on Maione da Bari, prime minister of King William I. The ambush, studied in detail, ended with the death of the First Minister and with the destruction of his body while the other barons imprisoned the King. The frightened people went to the King's aid and freed him, bringing him back to power and forcing Bonello and his barons to take refuge in Caccamo, in the castle that the same baron had over the years fortified. William I swore revenge and organized an army against the rebels barricaded in Caccamo. But the castle proved impregnable.
What he could not obtain by force, the king obtained by deception: he made Bonello believe that he had forgiven him and during a day at court he had him arrested and killed in his cell.
Since then, legend has it, on the darkest nights, the ghost of Bonello wanders around in the castle of Caccamo, dragging himself blind and lame, amid a thousand torments, and spends his afterlife throwing secular curses on those who betrayed him. , condemning him to a horrible death.
