Aci Castello castle: Castello Normanno

A visit to the Castello Normanno in Aci Castello, Sicily, is a worthwhile day trip if you are in the area. While the “museum” it houses is underwhelming, the medieval structure that gave the town of Aci Castello its name makes for an interesting place to explore with kids.

So, Aci Castello. It isn’t all that far from our house — quite near a town we really like, Aci Trezza —  and I’ve been meaning to take the kids there for ages to see the Aci Castello castle. Since “castello” just means “castle” in Italian, it seems a safe bet that the Castello Normanno is pretty important to the town’s history.

First things first: hours of operation for the Aci Castello castle. To be honest, one reason I’ve been putting off a visit to Castello Normanno was because I didn’t have real reliable information on when it was open and I didn’t want to be annoyed if we drove there and it wasn’t. Yes, I could have called but … I’m a bit phobic about trying to make phone calls in Italian. Shrug.

Anyway, fear not — here are the hours of operation for the Castello Normanno, at least as of April 19, 2018:

The Castello Normanno (Norman Castle) sits on a rocky bit of land that juts out into the sea. According to some signage we saw at the castle, the land that the castle sits on was connected to the mainland by a volcanic eruption in 1169. I have a few questions about that, but not a lot of answers.

The exact date of the Aci Castello castle’s construction is apparently unknown, but the Normans invaded Sicily in 1060 and it is called the “Castello Normanno” so — probably a safe bet that it is in the neighborhood of 1,000 years old.

The Castello Normanno houses a civic museum, but I can’t say it’s much to write home about. A few period costumes, a large collections of crystals, rocks and shells and what appeared to be some sort of display about evolution? Don’t expect a whole lot if you go on that front.

However, what made the trip worth it was just exploring the ruins of the castle itself. It’s no secret that we love castles (see here and here and here!), and this one — while quite modest — was fun to walk around.

The views from the Castello Normanno were fantastic, worth a visit just on their own.

The castle also contained a small botanical garden in what I guess would have been a courtyard back in the day.

All told, I’d say we spent maybe 40 minutes exploring the castle and walking around. Owie and Fi enjoyed finding every nook and cranny of the place, and also pretending to be royalty. Afterward, we swung down some stairs to the base of the castle to look at tide pools (pictured above) and then it was GELATO TIME.

The town of Aci Castello was very cute, but be warned that the streets are quite tight. I take my van just about anywhere in Sicily without much issue, but I was extremely glad to be driving our small island beater instead this day. Around the castle are several cute ice cream/granita shops, and a couple restaurants that seemed to be open for lunch. Enjoy!

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