Fort of Capo Passero
The Forte di Capo Passero di Carlo V is a work of military architecture located at the highest point of the Island of Capo Passero .
It was built in the 16th century, at the behest of the Viceroy Marcantonio Colonna, in order to defend itself from the continuous Turkish-Barbary raids and was garrisoned by soldiers and armed with artillery pieces. The works began in 1599, under the direction of the royal engineer Diego Sanchez, but were interrupted a few months later due to lack of funds. The work resumed only in 1603, by the will of King Philip III who received a donation of 21,000 scudi from the Sicilian Parliament to complete the work, also imposing a tax on all the cities and lands of the Kingdom of Sicily. In September 1607 the construction of the fortress was completed with the laying of the royal coat of arms. During the 1700s the fort was also used as a prison and continued to have an important military function until the mid-1800s. In 1871, a small lighthouse was built on the terrace and the fort was inhabited by Navy personnel.
Today the Fort is the seat of cultural events.
The fort rests on a massive portion of that limestone rock that characterizes the island. The perimeter is square, the base rises from the ground level for 4 meters, the threshold from which the first level of the fortress begins, and has no openings. The floor can only be reached via a flight of stairs, located on the east side, which stopped a few meters from the entrance door, reachable via a drawbridge. The portal is characterized by a large coat of arms belonging to King Philip III, who became King of Spain and Sicily in 1598, depicting an eagle holding a shield with heraldic insignia. The external walls are made of plastered limestone stones and sandstone blocks at the corners. Inside there is a courtyard, also square. In the center there is a large cistern where rainwater from the terrace was conveyed through a system of gutters.
On the ground floor there are fifteen rooms, with no openings to the outside. At the corners the rooms have a square shape and roof with ribbed vaults, along the sides the rooms are rectangular, with a barrel roof. There is a chapel dedicated to the Virgin of the Annunciation , while the other rooms on this level represented the chaplain's and soldiers' quarters. At the entrance to one of these lodgings on an architrave, the motto is carved "better to act than to deplore events with pity".
On the upper floor there are sixteen rooms, also practically without openings to the outside, with the exception of eight small windows placed on the four sides of the fort, arranged without seeking symmetry. Compared to the ground floor distribution, the differences are slight. The rooms on the first floor housed the commander and officers, and are disengaged by a gallery supported by large shelves.
The terrace was home to the artillery. On the northeast corner, starting in 1871, the small lighthouse stands. Today from this terrace you have a privileged view over the whole island of Capopassero.
