Pietrarossa Castle in Caltanissetta
The Pietrarossa Castle in Caltanissetta, located on the eastern edge of the historic center of Caltanissetta, stands on a rock overlooking a ravine that dominates the valley to the Salso river.
In popular language it is called "murra di l'Anciuli ", that is" Sand of the Angel ", with a clear reference to the neighboring church of Santa Maria degli Angeli and to the material used as the term murra, in the Sicilian dialect, identifies sand or red stone.
The origins of the castle are controversial but it is believed that the promontory where the castle stands was initially inhabited by the Sicanians who lived in the nearby village, baptized by the historians Nissa. The presence of symbols of the Sican alphabet demonstrates this hypothesis.
The real core of the castle was built by the Byzantines between 750 and 800, but at the beginning of the twentieth century it fell into Arab hands who renamed it Qalat-an-Nisa. In the Middle Ages the castle was the scene of important events, such as episodes of the war of the Sicilian Vespers, meetings of the fighting barons, the partition of Sicily between the four Vicars, and this underlines the strategic role that the castle played.
Partially collapsed in the 16th century, the castle has been used, over time, as a stone quarry to build the Franciscan convent, the cemetery chapels or the houses of the Angeli district.
It is believed, from the discovery of remains of masonry , that there were some curtain walls that enclosed a large surface, within which the three towers developed, symbol of the city, of which today only remains of the central one and the north lookout tower remain.
Some works excavations have made it possible to identify the rainwater cisterns, one of which was used as a prison at least until the end of the 15th century. The entrance to an underground tunnel was also unearthed, probably an escape route from the castle, which was however immediately closed and walled up, thus feeding the many legends that speak of a buried Caltanissetta, of secret tunnels that cross the whole city with a hidden and unknown lattice.
