Grassuliato Castle in Mazzarino
The Castello di Garsiliato in Mazzarino, also known as Castello Grassuliato, is located on a steep and inaccessible cliff in a strategic position guarding the valley of the Gela river.
The castle was built by the Romans, together with Castelvecchio di Mazzarino. In these places, the Romans were followed by the Byzantines and, in the eighth century, the Saracens who destroyed the village born at the foot of the castle of Garsiliato, leaving only the manor, given the excellent strategic position it occupied. On that same hill, the Normans in the 11th century, after having driven out the Saracens and conquered the territories, restored the castle and built a church.
Unfortunately today there are very few traces of the structures of the Castle and of the church, which is why no restoration could be done. Given the few remaining elements, it is difficult to recognize the majesty of the ancient Castle of Grassuliato and it was possible to reconstruct only in a fragmentary way what must have been the structure of the castle. Three groups of ruins can be distinguished: the first consisting of two south-north eastern open rooms; the second, in a south-westerly direction with respect to the previous rooms, in which there are the ruins of a wall and a quadrangular room. It is believed that there could have been a large rectangular room connected to this wall, the remains of which constitute the third group of ruins. It is a large hall with three square bays. Only a few architectural elements remain of the ancient vestiges.
