Castello di Falconara

Majestic and solitary, perched on a promontory overlooking the sea, the Falconara castle seems almost out of a picture, in which the ocher color of the rocks and walls stands out in the intense blue of the sea and in the green of a thick palm grove. An exotic paradise that today can be "conquered" and enjoyed through various hospitality formulas. You can rent the castle exclusively, reserving then all 19 beds, or for apartments for 1 to 10 people, or for overnight stays from 2 to 4 days for groups of a minimum of 10 participants to a maximum of about 30. For first two types is included in the rates the cost of one or two fixed housekeepers. The interior preserves many of the original furnishings, frescoes and hunting trophies, conquered by the landlord in his numerous safaris in Kenya.

The castle, which is located a few meters from the beach, was built in different eras around the central core represented by an old square tower called precisely 'Falconara' because initially the owners used it for breeding hunting falcon, a much loved sport in the Swabian-Norman period. Precisely therefore, it is not known when the tower was built but we can certainly say that the castle already existed in 854, when the Emir Alaba became lord of Butera. Enlarged and strengthened over time, the manor still maintained its function of vigilance against the raids of pirates who until the eighteenth century plundered the coasts.

Of today's original structure only the large 36-meter-high square tower is conserved, embellished with Catalan style mullioned windows with slender pillars and capitals. Over the centuries the building has changed several owners, from the Santapau to the Branciforte and finally to the Bordonaro, who in turn changed the structure and the rooms. In the mid-800's the manor was enriched with a new wing and renovated as an elegant noble residence. The nineteenth-century wing, developed towards the sea, includes a large terrace directly overlooking the sea front, houses a large living room a loggia side and is connected by a staircase to the tower. The whole building is also partially surrounded by a crenellated walls, recently built, which leads to a beam on which overlook the various bodies that make up the complex. In the internal rooms there are collections of ceramics, majolica, a rich art gallery and several hunting trophies. The castle also houses an archeology Antiquarium with findings found throughout the territory of Butera after the excavations carried out in the 50s. In the inner courtyard, on the other hand, it is possible to admire, deep in the rock, deep pits and cisterns, which were to serve to preserve food to allow for long resisting the sieges of the enemies.

Then passed into the hands of the Santapau family, in 1540 it came to Ambrogio di Santapau Branciforte, who was invested with the title of Prince of Butera. After numerous successions, he returned to the last descendant of the princes, Caterina Branciforte, who was married to Count Giorgio Welling. At the outbreak of the Risorgimento motions of 1848, the German officer left Italy, selling the castle to the baron and diplomat Antonio Chiaramonte Bordonaro, ancestor of the baron Roberto, the current owner.