Eufemio Castle in Calatafimi-Segesta
Francescodibartolo80 - CC3.0
The Castello Eufemio di Calatafimi-Segesta , located on the hill overlooking the entire town, was one of the fortified sites set up to defend and control the access roads to Segesta.
The castle in the 13th century it is used by the troops of Frederick II in the fight against the Muslim rebels, who seem to have their stronghold in the nearby village of Calatabarbaro, on top of the acropolis of Segesta. In 1282, during the revolt of the Vespers, his feudal lord William Porcelet probably lived in it, who, loved by his subjects, was spared and sent unharmed together with his family to Provence. It was then a military garrison and prison until 1868, the year in which it was abandoned and in which its slow decay began.
Of the three towers of the castle , which is depicted since the 16th century in the coat of arms of the municipality , only the ruins of two towers survive today. On the other hand, there is no trace of the third tower. The two towers were located at the north and south ends of the main facade. In the curtain wall that united them, near the south tower, the door of the castle opened. The door led into a vestibule consisting of two arches which led to the courtyard. On the left side of the vestibule and the courtyard open the narrow doors of some cells on whose walls you can still see the graffiti of the prisoners. On the same side of the cells stood another floor, probably the real mansion. Along the west side there are also large cisterns for rainwater.
