Castle of Venus

Today on the ancient sacred area is the imposing and impregnable fortress built by the Normans reusing architectural elements and stone of the remaking of the temple of Venus Erycina. 

The castle was formerly surrounded by towers, works of advanced fortification connected between them by two curtains embattled and a drawbridge, the same of which is mentioned by the Arab geographer Ibn-Giubayr (sec.XII).

The castle was also the seat of the main representatives of royal authority, namely the Castellan and the Bajulo: the first administered criminal justice, managed the prison and supervised the maintenance of the fortress, the second was the head of civil justice as well as control over the payment of taxes. 

Just from the Bajulo of the kingdom takes name the area surrounding the Castle, with the name of “Balio”. 

 On the main facade, visitors are welcomed by the entrance portal – an ogive arch with the Hapsburg coat of arms of Charles V – enriched by a precious fourteenth-century mullioned window.