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The Norman Castle of Erice is also known as the “Castle of Venus” because it stands on the ruins of an ancient Roman sanctuary dedicated to Venus Erycina. The castle overlooks a breath-taking panorama, which stretches from Strait of Sicily to the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Built as a fortress by the Normans in 1100, it was connected by a drawbridge to the watchtowers called “Torri del Balio” – steps eventually replaced it and are still visible today. Abandoned in 1154, it was returned to its ancient splendour during the War of Vespers (1280-1302). The Angevins barricaded themselves inside the fortress and, in 1392, King Martin had the whole structure restored. Later on and until the XVI century, the castle hosted a Spanish military garrison. Between 1818 and 1819, after the Bourbon reform, the whole property was acquired by the local Municipality. At the end of the 1800s, Count Agostino Sieri-Pepoli Agostino Pepoli reclaimed the entire area at his own expense and rebuilt the towers, which would become one of his properties.

THE GARDEN

The new rich and cultured patron rebuilt the pentagonal tower, destroyed in the XV century, the crenellated curtain to protect the internal area, and the “English-style” public garden of the “Balio”. Thick centuries-old box trees now surround the flower beds; the vegetation features many typical species of the Mediterranean scrub such as pines, cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens), almond trees (Prunus dulcis), and holm oaks (Quercus ilex). Today, the garden looks like a “natural monument” that enhances a place already rich in history, culture and scenic beauty.

Worth visiting nearby:

Ettore Majorana Scientific Culture Centre is open to the public in the former convent of San Rocco; this scientific facility was named after the famous Sicilian physicist born in Catania on 5 August 1906, who died under mysterious circumstances on 27 March 1938.

The Arabic “couscous” is a dish commonly served in many restaurants around this part of southern Sicily.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)