Norman Castle

Castle stands on the highest point of Gerace. Founded by the Byzantine on an ancient Greek-Roman system, the Castle was fortified by the Normans in the tenth century. Successive feudal lords were the Grimaldi of Genoa, the De Marinis, the Caracciolo, the Marquis of Aragon and De Cordoba. The fortification was separated from the city center, accessible by a drawbridge ten meters long, which rested on a pylon intermediate carved into the rock. In 986 the Arabs devastated Gerace and its Castle. During Spanish rule, they were carried out some restructuring of military character: on the main facade, more than twenty-five meters long, were placed loopholes, watchtowers and interior corridors, in addition to the tower with a circular base on its wall straight. At the top, the coat of arms in white marble in the shape of a shield, decorated with the representation of two towers, a lion and the lilies of the pots. 

The grand armory (also called "Mileto") dominates the facade, crowned by a Ghibelline battlement. Inside the rooms they were arranged for the daily activities: corridors, a chapel and a water cistern of Roman origin. Earthquakes of the seventeenth century significantly damaged the structure, that of 1783 almost totally destroyed. From the original Castle are still visible pillars of the bridge, the body of the entrance, the remains of the colonnade, a courtyard, a round tower and the remains of the corner tower destroyed during the Second World War. At the Castle, on the lower level, it opens the St. Anthony's Cave of the Castle, and the square in front, called "Baglio".