• City

  Taranto

• Province

  Taranto

• Adress

  Piazza Castello, 4, 74123 Taranto TA

• Date of construction

  1486-1492

Description

The Aragonese Castle or Castel Sant’Angelo has undergone a radical evolution over time and has taken on different functions: from the Byzantine to the Aragonese era, up to the Habsburg rule that transformed it into a prison, of which disturbing traces still remain.

Of Byzantine origin, the Castle had tall and narrow towers, used to throw stones and boiling oil on the invaders. Its reconstruction is due to Ferdinand I of Naples who, in 1486, had it enlarged and above all remodeled its towers, this time low and wide in a circular shape. The reason was the introduction of a new type of weapon: the cannon. The new towers made it possible to move this new instrument of war more easily and at the same time to better cushion the blows inflicted by the enemy.

Gallery