RAGUSA - DONNAFUGATA CASTLE
sicily-travel
Donnafugata Castle is about 20 Kms from Ragusa. The Castle, situated among Carob trees and surrounded by an immense park, is one of the most attractive tourist spots in the province of Ragusa. It is a rare example of Ragusan architecture which was influenced by late XVIII century Romantic tastes. It has the appearance of a large residential villa, preceded by a wide avenue, on both sides of which there are restaurants, storehouses, stables and houses for the peasants who lived on the baron's estate.
THE HISTORY
The history of this castle began between the X and XI century and was the work of the Arabs, who built a group of dwelling places near a source of fresh water which was called "Ayn As Jafat" (Fountain of Health). A legend tells of a woman that, prisoner in the castle, was able to escape. She was the Queen Bianca of Navarra that was imprisoned, by the perfidious Count Bernardo Cabrera, in a room from which she was able to escape through the tunnels that led in the country that surrounded the castle. From here the dialect-name "Ronnafugata", escaped woman, from which the present Donnafugata originated. In fact, the Queen Bianca of Navarra was never been in the castle because, at her times (XIV century), the castle wasn't still built. The building, submitted to changes and added to until 1960, fundamentally owes its appearance to Corrado Arezzo de Spuches, the Baron of Donnafugata and a prominent figure in XIX century political life.
THE CASTLE
The oldest part of the whole complex is surely the solid square tower which dates from the XVII century and which is situated in the central part of the building. However, the castle hasn't a well defined style in that the Gothic Venetian loggia (built at the beginning of this century by Clara Lestrada) is next to a loggia built in late Renaissance style. The main facade, on which there is a grand terrace, has a modest entrance. At the sides of the building there are two large circular towers with narrow access stairways. The terrace leads to the great tower and, by means of a wide and sumptuous stairway, into the park. On the upper part of the stairway there are two large sphinxes. At the centre of the facade, between the Gothic Venetian loggia and the terrace, five noble family crests are mounted, including the Arezzo family crest bearing four sea-urchins ("i rizzi"). Beneath the loggia there are arched doors, decorated alternatively with female figures and sculptures which remind you of Roman animal scenes. On the left, beside the entrance door, there are outbuildings and on the right a chapel, which for a few years was the seat of the parish of St. Antonio Abate. There are 122 rooms in the castle but the most interestingly furnished are those on the first floor. The inside is absolutely very valuable and it has stimulated the imagination of numerous directors, who have transformed often the castle in a movie set. Among these directors we remember the great Luchino Visconti who here has shot the famous "Il Gattopardo" ("The Leopard").
The guided visit begins in the great "Armoury and Family Crest Room", where the walls are covered with wallpaper bearing the noble family crests of the most important Sicilian families. At each side of the entrance door there are two coats of XVII century armour and the furnishing is completed with carved furniture, chests decorated with family emblems, painting and small sofas. Before beginning the long series of corridors that lead to the other rooms, on the right there is an enclosed winter balcony that looks out onto the park. The next room is the "Baron's Sitting Room", which contains a large golden framed mirror, various items of furniture and some family portraits. Next you enter the "Mirror Room", whose walls are hung with seventeen mirrors and golden stucco work, which create a sumptuous and charming atmosphere. The furnishings, though not in excellent condition, give an idea of what it was like to live in an elegant, high class house of the time. The corridors ends in the "Billiards Room" where the table is still in the middle of the room. It is decorated with wallpaper showing Sicilian landscapes and pretty curtains. The ceiling can be imagined as an open window looking skywards. This room leads into the "Bishop's Apartments", which include a lobby and his own private apartment, where he often stayed. Once the rooms were rich with Boule style carved and inlaid furniture, which was among some of the most valuable in the whole castle. Returning to the Biliards Room, you enter the "Art Gallery", a small room where some Neo-Classical paintings by Luca Giordano, showing mythological and holy scenes, are hung. Leading from this room, there are five others with bedrooms and sitting room, once reserved for guests. Proceeding, you come into a small apartment in which, according to popular belief, Queen Bianca of Navarra was imprisoned after being kidnapped by Count Bernardo Cabrera. In a romantic alcove, hidden by a wide curtain, there is a little furniture, a bed and a bathroom with a wooden hot water boiler dating from 1800.
From this room you enter in the "Music Room", so called because there are three mechanical pianos with rotating cylinders and an upright piano. This room is one of the most beautiful in the whole castle and is richly furnished with saofas and armchairs, set in groups for conversation and listening music. This is the only room which has frescoes on the walls. This room leads into the "Ladies' Sitting Room", which was used for conversation. Besides the usual wallpaper and beautiful curtains, there are also two large mirrors, a fireplace and a piece of inlaid furniture of remarkable workmanship. In the centre there is one of the most valuable chandeliers in the whole castle, entirely made of multi-coloured Murano glass, which is suited to the furnishings and typically femminine atmosphere. After this there is the "Smoking Room", reserved for the men for conversation and smoking. The upholstery and wallpaper depict a series of pipes and cigar boxes. The last room is the large "Waiting Room" furnished with little furniture. The furnishings consist of a large Neo-Classical mirror with a console and the frame painted in gold and an ornate family crest. On the walls there are paintings which portray Baron Arezzo, Saint Cecilia and a XVII century gentlman. Finally there is the "Oval Bedroom" that is furnished in the standards of the beginning of the century. It is quiet and luminous.
THE PARK
Having visited the inside of the castle, it is a pleasant to go for a walk in the park. At the end of a long avenue of box trees, there is a Neo-Classical building called the "Coffee-House" where the Baron had his breakfast in the morning. All over the park there are worked in terracotta urns from Caltagirone containing exotic plants and stone seats, whose shape requires soft cushions, in secluded and romantic places. In the central area of the park, Artificial Grottoes containing stalactites hanging from the roof have been created. Above the small hillock there is a dome-shaped building in classical style with a frescoed vault.
A Labyrinth was built for the amusement of guests and children; at the entrance there is a grumpy and ineffectual Bourbon soldier with a gun: almost as if he is there to warm that it is difficult to get out of the place. Near the labyrinth there is a small Chapel, where, once having ascended the steps, you operated a mechanism which opened a door and out of which a false bearded monk came face to face with the startled visitor: "a monk's joke".
Castels in Sicily, the best in Ragusa
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