Angelmaro Tower in Geraci Siculo
Davide Mauro - CC4.0
The Tower of Angelmaro is an ancient military building erected in the first decades of the Norman conquest, now used as a civilian residence.
The building is spread over four levels with the entrance on the eastern side. On the south side two loopholes are still visible today which from the inside have a deep splay intended for the archer. Inside there is a narrow courtyard, closed to the east by a stretch of the wall that originally surrounded the tower, and onto which the pointed arched access portal opens.
The building is known for its chivalric events narrated by Goffredo Malaterra. It is said that, in 1072, the County of Geraci passed to Aldusa, wife of Count Serlone who died in a Saracen ambush. Thus it was that, in 1081, Count Ruggero granted Aldruda in marriage to the soldier Angelmaro, who received a fourth part of Geraci as a dowry. This made the noble leader proud to the point of trying to circumvent the local inhabitants and transformed his home into a mighty tower, emblem of the new social status. This gesture provoked the wrath of Count Ruggero, who besieged the village and deposed Angelmaro, to regain full control of the territory.
