Il Castellaccio in Feudum Camastra in Valle Mazzarie et territorio terre Nari: note per il restauro

The great flourishing of forts in the Agrigento area, as everywhere in Sicily, occurred in the first half of the 14th century. The crisis of the Monarchy, the rise of great families, factional struggles and the need to defend fiefs were the causes. Speaking of castles in the Agrigento area is to speak of the Chiaramonte, masters and lords of vast territories in the Agrigento area, to whom we also owe the construction of forts, sometimes modest in size, to guard roads and granary fiefdoms. Among these, particular attention is paid in the present study to the ‘Castellaccio’ di Camastra in the Naro aera to the east of Agrigento. The building is located on a plateau overlooking a vast territory. Of this fortress, which until the 20th century still had much of its wall structure, only parts pertaining to the tower remain, where two openings, one of which is a slit, are preserved in the wall facing west. The present contribution aims to present the result of careful and scrupulous archive research that certifies the succession of different owners from the 14th century onwards, as well as documents relating to the payment of tithes for the year 1366. It is also intended to present the results of investigations into the pre-existence of ancient structures on which the fortress was later built, and the complex of troglodytic caves surrounding it. Through a graphic reconstruction on the basis of the in situ and photogrammetric survey, it will provide the planimetric view and elevations of the monument, together with a restoration hypothesis.