The legend of the crimes of the Ironera of Castelvetrano
This legend probably originates from the biographical story of the Duchess Zenobia Gonzaga, daughter of Vittoria Doria and Ferrante II, Duke of Guastalla, and of her consort Giovanni III d'Aragona, Duke of Castelvetrano. The place to which the legend is linked is an ancient building in Castelvetrano called “L'Aironera”, so called because the Duke of Castelvetrano, Don Diego D'Aragona, owner of the estate, used it as a base for heron hunting. The building is also known as "Lariuni".
According to the legend, since the duke was always very busy, his wife, in order not to get bored, moved to the Ironeria and always organized great parties in order not to get bored, where the most prominent nobles of Castelvetrano and the neighboring villages participated. The duchess was still young and attractive and not infrequently accepted the court of partygoers, so she had many lovers but in order not to let people know that she was cheating on her husband after, after the night of passion, she had them killed by one of her servants. The mysterious disappearances, unfortunately, repeated themselves over time and the rumors of these murders began to circulate around the country. A young noble, having learned of what was being said about the Duchess and the mysterious disappearances of many young people from the district, decided to challenge fate; he thus began to court the woman, entered into her good graces and managed to have a gallant date; the man already knew what would happen to him and hid a sharp dagger in his cloak.
After a fiery night, when the servant was about to attack him from behind, the noble gentleman reacted quickly and, taken by surprise his attacker, killed him, then ran away.
The news of the incident immediately spread around the town and the surrounding area; the duke immediately returned to the palace, had his wife recalled from the Aironera building and had her killed, but the young man was already far away, safe from the Duke's revenge.
PRESS: Well cataloged but not geolocated. We invite you to provide your contribution by providing us with useful information that will allow us to geolocate the listed asset. See also "Cultural Heritage to be Geolocated"
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Photo: web
Information contributions: Web, Region of Sicily
Note: The populating of the files of the Heritage database proceeds in incremental phases: cataloging, georeferencing, insertion of information and images. The cultural property in question has been cataloged, georeferenced and the first information entered. In order to enrich the information content, further contributions are welcome, if you wish you can contribute through our area "Your Contributions"
