Donnafugata Castle

The Donnafugata Castle is located in the territory of the municipality of Ragusa, about 15 kilometers from the city. The current building, contrary to what the name might suggest, is a sumptuous noble residence of the late 19th century.

The residence overlooked what were the possessions of the rich Arezzo De Spuches family.

Upon arrival, the castle reveals its sumptuousness: the building covers an area of ??about 2500 square meters and a large neo-Gothic facade, crowned by two side towers welcomes visitors.

The first construction of the castle seems to be due to the Chiaramonte, counts of Modica in the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth century it may have been one of the residences of Bernardo Cabrera, at the time the great executioner of the Kingdom of Sicily.

Although it must be taken into account that all the data concerning this castle, prior to the eighteenth century, including its primitive construction, are only the result of the fifteenth-century legend, concerning Bernardo Cabrera and Bianca di Navarra.

These are data that have no historical evidence. Subsequently, the construction of the former Bellio-Cabrera di Donnafugata feud was purchased in 1648 by Vincenzo Arezzo-La Rocca, former baron of Serri or Serre, who made it a fortified farm.

Over time it was transformed into a neoclassical house and a neo-Gothic castle.

Most of the construction is due in the nineteenth century to the descendant, Baron Corrado Arezzo, an eclectic scholar and politician.

Through several generations, he came to Clementina Paternò di Manganelli, widow of Viscount Gaetano Combes de Lestrade. Finally, after years of neglect and abandonment, in 1982 it was purchased by the Municipality of Ragusa which, after long restoration works, made it usable again.

Map: Donnafugata Castle