Castello della Cuba

The story

The Cuba was built in 1180 by William II, as recorded in the Arabic inscription running beneath the battlements. It stood at the centre of a large artificial lake in the Genoard park, together with the Zisa: a pavilion for the king’s leisure, with pools, fountains and a central hall open to the sky.

The architecture follows Fatimid models from North Africa: a rectangular plan, projecting towers on the sides, tall blind arches, muqarnas in the corners. Boccaccio chose it as the setting for a tale in the Decameron, the story of Gian di Procida and Restituta.

Over the centuries it became a lazaretto and then a cavalry barracks: to this day you enter through the courtyard of the Tuköry barracks on corso Calatafimi. It has been part of the Arab-Norman UNESCO site since 2015.

Why it is worth it

It feels odd to cross a barracks courtyard to reach a 12th-century palace, and that very oddness is what makes the visit memorable. Inside it is an empty shell of golden stone, roofless, with the sky for a ceiling: look at the muqarnas niches in the corners and picture the water that once surrounded it. It is more intimate than the Zisa, and often you have it to yourself.