CASTELLO DEI CONTI DI MODICA

An impregnable and prestigious fortress, home of  Enrico and Federico Chiaramonte who probably built it between 1340 and 1350, the castle takes its name form the counts who owned it from 1410 to 1812. Its robust size, in a rhombus shaped layout and with its four alternating towers, two cylindrical, two square, allowed it to protect the city from violent attacks, including the infamous attack of the Islamic pirate Barbarossa.

On its northern face, two original single lancet windows are still in place as are the two-paned and three-paned ones in the internal courtyard. The main stairway to the castle is made out of red marble from the quarries of Mount Bonifato.