Castello di Geraci

Castello di Geraci stands above Geraci Siculo, Italy, and was erected by the Normans for military use. Count Roger I removed the territory from Arab control and granted the place in vassalage to his nephew Riccardo Serlo II, who died in 1072. After that initial Norman phase the castle passed through a sequence of holders recorded in local records. Named figures include Engelmaro and Eliusa, followed by Ruggiero di Bernavilla, who died in 1098, and Rainaldo di Bernavilla. Later administrators included members of the Creone family, among them Ugone, Guglielmo and Ruggero de Creone, and a figure called Guerrera.

From the later medieval decades the Ventimiglia family became the dominant presence at Geraci. Arrigo Ventimiglia, son of Guglielmo Ventimiglia, died in 1265. Alduino Ventimiglia died in 1289, and Francesco I Ventimiglia died in 1338. Under Aragonese rule and during the tenure of Francesco I the site was transformed into a true military fortress and the town’s perimeter was closed with large gates, traces of which remain visible. Royal interventions touched the lordship of Geraci in the mid-14th century. In 1354 King Ludovico of Sicily restored goods that had been confiscated to Emanuele Ventimiglia and to Francesco II Ventimiglia.

Later Ventimiglia lords recorded in the house’s succession include Emanuele (died 1362), Francesco II (died 1387), Enrico III, and Giovanni I Ventimiglia, who was named marquis of Geraci by King Alfonso V in 1433. Subsequent holders include Antonio Ventimiglia Prades, Giovanni III Ventimiglia and Giuseppe Ventimiglia, who died in 1620. The castle compound contains the ancient remains identified as the Maniero dei Ventimiglia.