Tower of Manfria
1584
In order to protect the coastal towns of Sicily from the continuous assaults both by enemies and by African corsairs, the Spanish government thought of erecting a series of towers for defensive purposes, arranged on the coast in such a way as to constitute a strategic surveillance system. military. The high level of communication and connection made it possible to report any dangers and to spread the news of impending incursions all over the island.
The Tower of Manfria was part of the warning system of the coastal towers of Sicily, built on the recommendation of the Florentine architect Camillo Camilliani.
It stands on a hill overlooking the hamlet and is visible from the entire Gulf of Gela. It is currently privately owned and is in a fairly good state of conservation, except for the terrace which has some parts of the cornice now in ruins. It should be noted that it is one of the largest Camillian towers, it is in fact about 15 meters high with a base of about 12,50 meters.
It was also called the tower of Sferracavallo, but Francesco Maria Emanuele Gaetani marquis of Villabianca, in his family Palermo diaries reports that it was also called Torre d'Ossuna. Its construction began in 1549, during the vice-reign of Giovanni De Vega. The date, not completely certain, is inferred from Tiburzio Spannocchi in his survey drawing it with the same truncated conical base of the Mulinazzo Tower in Cinisi, which with certainty had already been built in 1552 under the viceroy Giovanni De Vega.
In 1578 it is mentioned for being located in Contrada Sferracavallo, and not completed, so much so that it was suggested that: and it will be necessary to provide it by raising it about two rods more…. In 1578, therefore, the construction was resumed and completed to a design by the Florentine architect Camillo Camilliani, who mentions it twice on the occasion of his preparatory studies, for which he prepared a watercolor showing the circular-shaped tower with a base that had an escarpment and parapet with merlons. It reports that it was very suitable for defense being in correspondence to the north with the Castle of Butera, and to the east with the Castle of Gela, while to the west it was with the Castle of Falconara.
In the first quarter of the XNUMXth century the tower was almost completely rebuilt until it assumed its present appearance, and probably, Villabianca infers, thanks to the impulse of the viceroy Pedro Giron, duke of Ossuna.
From the archives of the Deputation of the Kingdom of Sicily, it appears that starting from the eighteenth century, in the years 1717, 1757, 1797, the garrison of the tower was composed of four soldiers and a superintendent chosen among the knights of the city of Terranova (Gela).
In 1804 from the same source it was placed under the supervision of Don Mariano Carpinteri and Gravina, from Terranova, who in 1805 had the external access staircase built, with two ramps, which still exists today. In 1867 it was included in the military works to be decommissioned.
Source: Wikipedia
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Information contributions: Web
Photo: GFDL with disclaimer, https://it.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=292011
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