Located on the Scilla promontory, towards the Strait of Messina, the castle also known as Castello Ruffo di Calabria, is a legacy of rare beauty. It represents the genius loci of the city of Scilla, about 20 km from Reggio Calabria and its history started in the Etruscan era. Scilla is completely isolated and right next to the sea, the ideal lookout location to protect the Calabrian lands from whoever arrives by sea.
The history of the Calabrian fortifications inevitably leads us to the Saracen invasion period. However, the Castello Ruffo di Scilla has ancient roots: first the Etruscans, then the defensive walls in the period of Magna Graecia. Even the Romans, who expanded it, found here the perfect place to settle. The modern excavations show us only the walls of the monastery of San Pancrazio, from the 9th century, also a defence against the Saracens. It is no coincidence that in 1060 it became a military fortress and in 1808 state-own property. A place of defence but also of suggestive beauty. A heritage to protect. This is why since the 1970s it has been a meeting place for people and cultures: first as a Youth Hostel and now as a very important cultural centre, a venue for meetings and exhibitions.
References:The Chapel of St. Martin is the only completely preserved Romanesque building in Vyšehrad and one of the oldest in Prague. In was built around 1100 in the eastern part of the fortified outer ward. Between 1100 and 1300, the Rotrunda was surrounded by a cemetery. The building survived the Hussite Wars and was used as the municipal prison of the Town of the Vyšehrad Hill.
During the Thirty Years’ War, it was used as gunpowder storage, from 1700 to 1750, it was renovated and reconsecrated. In 1784, the chapel was closed passed to the military management which kept using it as a warehouseand a cannon-amunition manufacturing facility. In 1841, it was meant to be demolished to give way to the construction of a new road through Vyšehrad. Eventually, only the original western entrance was walled up and replaced with a new one in the sountren side. The dilapidating Rotunda subsequently served as a shelter for the poor.