The castle of Poira, known as the castle of the Baroness of Poira, is an old complex now in ruins in the territory of Paternò, in the Poira district, at the top of the hills called the Calanchi, along the road to Centuripe. It was probably built in the Middle Ages on the remains of an ancient settlement of the Sicels, and consisted of four large buildings used as a house, storehouse, shelter for animals and chapel; until the end of the twentieth century it housed a farm.
What to see
In modern times it was the residence of the Spitaleri barons of Adernò, owners of the fief of Poira. Here, at the end of the nineteenth century, the «Spitaleri kidnapping» was carried out by the Maurina gang, a group of brigands active in the countryside around Catania and Messina: the bandits demanded and obtained fifty thousand lire for the baron's safety, but still broke into the castle, looted it and fled.
What survives of the building today are traces of the double ring of walls, arrow slits, splayed windows, the large cistern, the chapel and a room with fireplaces. On the hill of Poira, in 1995, the heritage authority of Catania uncovered a Greek necropolis with tombs of the sixth and fifth centuries BC, containing pottery of various styles; not far away is the so-called grotta degli Schiavi, probably a Roman ergastulum where slaves were shut in after work.
Visiting
In recent decades the site has been abandoned and looted: access conditions should be checked beforehand, and care is needed among the ruins.
Our editors' tip
In the grotta degli Schiavi, according to the sources, slaves who rebelled against the work imposed on them were chained up.
