Castello di Schisò

Castello di Schisò stands at the tip of the promontory that closes the bay of Giardini-Naxos. A late-sixteenth-century watchtower was incorporated into a larger Bourbon-era fort, linking the headland's ancient harbour history with later coastal defences.

Why it matters

The fortress occupies the seaward end of Capo Schisò, beside the archaeological area of ancient Naxos. In 2019 it was added to the sites managed by the Parco archeologico di Naxos e Taormina, placing a post-medieval fortification within the park's archaeological landscape.

What to notice

The complex is a sequence of adaptations rather than a single-period building: the older watchtower is enclosed by the later fort. The park authority identifies a hall in the sixteenth-century tower adjoining the museum, where stone anchors and lead anchor stocks recovered from the bays of Naxos and Taormina are displayed. The setting makes clear the tower's relationship to the harbour entrance and the ancient settlement inland.

Context and history

The surviving tower dates to the late sixteenth century, when coastal watchtowers guarded against corsair raids. In the nineteenth century, the Bourbons rebuilt the complex as a small fort around the older tower. The regional decree of 27 June 2019 placed Castello Schisò among the sites of the archaeological park.