Ventimiglia Castle in Gangi
The Ventimiglia di Gangi castle is a fourteenth-century castle which stands on Monte Marone overlooking the town and dominating the two valleys of the Rainò stream.
It was built between the end of the XIII and the first decades of the XIV century by Enrico Ventimiglia, count of Geraci and lord of Gangi. The castle was not the usual residence for the Ventimiglia family who used the castles of Geraci and Castelbuono as their main dwellings. The building belonged to the Ventimiglia family until 1625, later it passed to the Graffeo family and a few years later to the Valguarnera family. During the seventeenth century, the ancient manor underwent numerous transformations that gave it the appearance of a palace rather than a fortress. Today it is a private residence.
Of the ancient castle only one wing preserves its fourteenth-century layout unchanged. The façade is the result of successive rearrangements dating back to the mid-seventeenth century, the work of the Graffeo family: it is contained between two towers, apparently from different eras, and marked by two orders of openings; it has a sturdy ashlar portal on the ground floor, in turn surmounted by the only balcony of the façade.
