Castello di Punta Troia

At Marettimo’s northern tip, Castello di Punta Troia occupies a rocky spur joined to the island by a narrow ridge. A medieval watchtower was incorporated into a Spanish fortress, later used as a Bourbon prison. The restored complex now houses a prison museum and an observatory associated with the Egadi marine reserve.

Why it matters

The castle’s successive uses are visible in a single coastal stronghold: a watchtower, a fortified outpost and a place of confinement. The Museo delle Carceri presents the building’s prison history, while the FAI records the castle’s repeated appearance in its I Luoghi del Cuore heritage census since 2004. Its position on Marettimo’s northern coast gives the fortress a commanding place in the island’s landscape.

What to notice

The complex retains the compact form of a fortress on a rocky promontory. Inside, the rock-cut cistern known as la Fossa was used to hold prisoners from 1795; accounts describe access through openings in its ceiling. The building also includes a church formerly dedicated as the Real Chiesa Parrocchiale di Marettimo. Its rooms now accommodate the prison museum and the marine reserve’s monk seal observatory.

Context and history

The first fortification was a ninth-century Saracen watchtower. The FAI records reinforcement under Roger II in the twelfth century. The Comune di Favignana dates construction of the present castle to 1568–1571, on the foundations of the earlier tower. Under Bourbon rule, the cistern was used for prisoners from 1795, and the penal colony was abolished in 1844. The Italian army later used the building as a signal station. After decades of abandonment following the Second World War, restoration brought the museum and observatory into the castle.