Naselli d'Aragona Castle in Comiso
The Castello dei Naselli d'Aragona in Comiso, also known as the Palazzo del Conte, is a stately home located in the center of the city.
According to historical sources, the castle already exists from before the end of the fourteenth century. At that time Comiso was surrounded by solid walls for its entire perimeter, it had several towers and a castle with a moat in front. In 1453 it was sold to the Naselli family, and from then on for many centuries the castle became the permanent home of the family. At the time of the Bourbons, the castle remained abandoned, until in 1841, a part of it was transformed into a theater, and the lower part was used as a district prison. Today it is a private residence.
The oldest part of the castle is made up of from the east wing where there is a baptistery dedicated to St. Gregory the Great, with remains of Byzantine frescoes dating back to the year one thousand. The baptistery has an octagonal shape and at the top, assuming a cylindrical shape, it is completed with an elegant dome. The northern part of the castle is characterized by an elegant Serlian three-light window, dating back to 1728, better known as the Loggetta, which recalls the sixteenth-century style and which walls are frescoed with landscapes and flights of birds.
Of particular value are also: two ogival portals, one of which is closed by a massive iron gate with large bosses dating back to 1400; a splendid fountain inserted in the wall and dating back to the sixteenth century attributed to Gagini; a fountain shaft from around 1600, in richly sculpted local stone, preserved in the internal courtyard.
