In 1070, on the orders of Roger I of Hauteville, the Normans raised a massive donjon at the center of Adrano. The town had lately been refounded on its old Greco-Roman core, and the tower-fortress was built to protect it: those who lived around it were mostly farmers and artisans of Byzantine and Norman descent. This is the Castello Normanno, and its bulk still marks the old town today.
What to see
The building is a donjon, the compact, squared-off tower-fortress typical of Norman military architecture, conceived as a stronghold rather than a lordly residence. Its stones have passed through turbulent centuries: under Swabian rule the fortress became the den of the counts de Luci, who violently plundered the goods of the Church until, in 1209, they were defeated and banished by Frederick II; in 1233 the emperor handed the settlement to captains from Messina. It was Giovan Tommaso Moncada, count of Adernò between 1466 and 1501, who restored the castle and reinforced it with an encircling bastion, in the years when his family ruled the town. That same Moncada settled a group of refugees from Epirus nearby, giving rise to the neighboring town of Biancavilla.
Visiting
Inside, the donjon now houses the archaeological museum of Adrano, which gathers finds from the surrounding territory. Among them are traces of ancient Adranon, the Greek polis founded in 400 BC by Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse beside the temple of the Sicel god Adranus: remains of the city walls, of the citadel, and objects brought to light by excavation. The route lets you follow the long history of the Etna region while moving through the rooms of the fortress itself.
Our editors' tip
The castle stands in the center of Adrano, so the museum pairs well with a walk between the square and the palazzi built by the Moncada, which still sketch the face of the earlier town. Check the museum's opening hours before you go, as they can shift with the season, so you do not find the keep closed.