The Norman-Swabian Castle is a medieval fortification on the hill of San Teodoro, the oldest district of Nicastro, now part of Lamezia Terme. It stands sheer above a rocky hill, in a position that allowed it to control the plain as far as the sea.
What to see
The exact date of construction is not known. According to some sources it was built by the Byzantines around the ninth century, according to others, better documented, by the Normans in the eleventh: the initial core rose on an earlier fortress, raised between the eighth and ninth century, which the Normans restored in the second half of the eleventh. Frederick II enlarged the interiors with barracks and prisons and had a pentagonal keep and a curtain wall built. The earthquake of 1638 caused serious damage: today what remains is four cylindrical towers, the bastions, the walls and a buttress with a blind loggia.
The castle's history is bound up with the end of Henry VII, Frederick II's rebellious son, held prisoner here for two years from 1240 in the custody of the castellan Martino d'Ippolito. About his death, on 12 April 1242, several versions circulate: one speaks of suicide, throwing himself from his horse during the transfer to the castle of Martirano; some have claimed Frederick II had him killed; a more recent version, backed by documentation, says he died of an illness contracted in prison. The body was later taken to the cathedral of Cosenza.
Visiting
The castle is on the hill of San Teodoro, in Nicastro. The sources describe it as still visitable, though in a dilapidated state; hours and arrangements are not given by the sources consulted and should be checked, also with regard to safety conditions.
Our editors' tip
In 1778 the English traveller Henry Swinburne described the castle as a romantic ruin in a precarious position over the bed of a roaring torrent, in a dark and wooded valley. For the castle's objects and architectural elements one can visit the medieval section of the Museo archeologico lametino, less than a kilometre away.
