Norman Castle

The Norman Castle of Bova stands on the highest and most panoramic point of the ancient village of Bova (Monte Rotondo), one of “The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy” in the province of Reggio Calabria. Known as the “island of Grecanic culture” (an ethnolinguistic minority of Greek in Calabria), Bova is the small capital of “Bovesìa” and is spread out around its castle. The building dates back to the 11th century, but the few traces that remain of the original structure are not sufficient to reconstruct its layout or date the subsequent phases. Sources say that the imposing Norman Castle of Bova was strengthened by the Aragonese in 1494, with rooms on three levels: a hall on the lower floor; two rooms on the upper floor and, a little higher up, a small frescoed chapel, traces of which still remain.

The walls of the city were built against the Norman Castle of Bova, within which the ancient entrance gates opened, including Parcopia Tower, which still exists today. Several legends surround the Norman Castle of Bova: for example, it seems that the female footprint imprinted on a boulder belonged to Countess Matilde di Canossa (the Queen's Footprint), owner of the castle, and that if a girl's foot matched that footprint, it would mean that the lucky girl was her descendant and a mysterious hidden treasure would be revealed to her.