Sicilia vendesi Castello Aragonese con Affreschi Giardini sotterraneo cappella Battistero Bizantina

€ 1.600.000

Rif. SICILY4038

In Sicily, some documents of the 13th - 14th century already speak of the Aragonese Castle of Comiso. and it is described as “… feudum Comisi cum aliis fortiliciis et edificis…”, therefore already before the end of the fourteenth century, Comiso was surrounded by solid walls for the whole perimeter, and had towers and a castle with a moat in front. Around 1392 the ownership of the castle passed from Federico Svevia the Cabrera counts, while in 1453 it was sold to Periconio Naselli, baron of Mastra, whose descendant Gaspare Naselli in 1571 was appointed Count of Comiso by Philip I of Sicily. Since then, for many centuries, the castle became the permanent home of the Naselli family, until an earthquake in 1693 caused the collapse of most of the castle with the exception of the tower. The works to restore it continued until the early eighteenth century, but the transformation into a stately palace took place when the viceroy Cristoforo Fernandez de Cordova came to visit, residing there for some time with all his entourage. At the time of the Bourbons, the castle remained abandoned, until in 1841, a part of it was transformed into a theater, later passed to the Municipality, and the lower part was used as a district prison. Nowadays the castle is owned by the Nifosì family, descended from the barons of Canalazzi.

On the east side of the castle, we find the oldest part: a baptistery dedicated to St. Gregory the Great, with the remains of Byzantine frescoes dating back to around the year one thousand; octagonal in shape, the baptistery, at the top becomes cylindrical in shape and is completed with an elegant dome. The northern part of the castle is characterized by an elegant Serlian three-light window, better known as the Loggetta, which recalls the sixteenth-century style and which has frescoed walls with landscapes and flights of birds; this loggia was added to the castle in 1728, based on a project by the Genoese Michelangelo Canepa. There are also two ogival portals, one of which is closed by a massive iron gate with large ashlars dating back to 1400; a splendid fountain inserted in the wall and dating back to the sixteenth century attributed to Gagini or to his school; a fountain shaft from around 1600, in richly carved local stone, preserved in the internal courtyard.

The Castle is located in the center of Comiso, majestic, almost as if from above watching over the city just 15 minutes from the beautiful historic center of Ragusa Ibla, a few steps from the baroque city of Scicli and not far from the city of Modica. The last external restoration was carried out five years ago for the anti-seismic adaptation but there would be many things that would require professional intervention: from the wonderful ceilings to the recovery of some period objects, up to the frescoes in the baptistery.

The castle covers an area of ​​about 1300 square meters divided over several levels. On the first floor, we find the luxurious noble floor of about 600 square meters consisting of living rooms and bedrooms with bathrooms and a kitchen area created by the current owners, all framing a wonderful "loggia" from which you can see the whole town. Above the royal floor, there is the Tower which constitutes an important portion of the building still to be restored. On the ground floor, we find an office and living area in the past were the stables. An external entrance leads to a large room of about 200 square meters with barrel vaults, currently used as a restaurant, but at the time it was supposed to be a shelter for horses and carriages. In the basement, we find the prisons of the castle, which can still be visited today and with artifacts from the 15th century.

Outside we find a beautiful garden of 1000 square meters that leads us to the oldest part of the Castle, the small Arab-Norman church.

for furthers informations please call +39 3489897291 or +39 931461760