The castle of Spadafora was built at the end of the sixteenth century around a defensive tower by the Spadafora family to control the coasts. The tower was probably enlarged or rebuilt in the early 1500s. Four imposing trapezoidal-shaped corner spurs are surrounded by battlements, in whose interspaces the artillery were placed. In the angular ends of each spur stand the casemates, to protect the soldiers on guard.
Between 1654 and 1670 were carried out renovations that most likely changed the architectural features of the castle with insertion of rooms, doors and windows, iron grates and balconies, and the rebuilding of the ramparts. From the 18th century it was transformed into a noble residence.
Between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the last century it was used as a private residence by the SamonĂ family, descendants of Princess Alessandra Spadafora Colonna.
After the loss of the Castle by the SamonĂ family, the building was abandoned and was for years the victim of the negligence of the successive administrations. It is currently owned by the Region. It returned to new life after the restoration of the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage of Messina, and hosts numerous cultural events.
References:Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).