Castles of Bolo and Torremuzza
In the Bolo valley, between Bronte and Troina, you'll find interesting the ruins of the ancient Bolo and Torremuzza castles (in this fortress, of Cattaino district, during the Bourbon period, the prisoners were kept). The two castles, were built at the top of very steep peak (respectively 932 and 900 meters). |
 They are considered an example of Middle Ages military architecture. With forced passages, they were dominating the wide valley of Bolo where armies and lunatic crowds of pilgrims and dealers, who, from the Norman capital Troina, wanted to reach the coast or Randazzo, were forced to go across that Saraceno bridge still in existence in the Serravalle country area.
The first sign of the existence of the Bolo settlement is of 1139. In 1392 a royal decree was ordering that his inhabitants had to turn to the Randazzo Captain of justice.
Subsequently, in 1535, Bolo and Cattaino were abandoned by the inhabitants to meet, together with other farmhouses, and form a single group in Bronte, as ordered by Carlo V°. Gesualdo De Luca in his "History of the town of Bronte" tells us of the fortress of Bolo "... that two lonely collapsing walls do not move forward" and that "several times were found big gold and silver coins where the farmhouse was, and also oil lamps and vases of clay". Benedetto Radice makes it go back to the Greek period, remembering, in the "Historical memories of Bronte", "the legends" of the treasures hidden in the spelunkers" of the Bolo and Torremuzza castles about findings of "quantities of Syracusan, Greeks and Roman coins, found in 1901, 1902 and 1915", he complains that the zone "was never visited by the archaeologists". But, few years back, among the general indifference, some stowaways managed to ruin the few remained things digging extensively, even with mechanical means.
Today, of the original two fortresses remain only few ruins; never the less it is still possible to imagine the original structure. The Bolo’s one, built with badly squared local stones, was long and narrow and occupied the entire space, on top of the hill; of the group of houses built around the castle, whose inhabitants, by order of Carl V, moved to the Bronte’s hamlet in 1535, doesn’t remain any trace. Torremuzza erected on the slopes of Serra di Vito or di Caginia (1242 metres) was placed on a rock’ spur accessible only from one side; high cliffs, hardly practicable, made quite safe the other sides. The fortress, following the shape of the rock., was divided in two levels. |
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