Castello degli Schiavi
The castle of the slaves (“ Castello degli schiavi ” in Italian) dates back to the baroque period . The castle (a palace ) is located on Via Marina, which connects the old town of Fiumefreddo di Sicilia with Marina di Cottone and which was known in ancient times as "Via Mulinelli".
Nowadays the castle is used as an event location or to celebrate weddings. It became world famous when Francis Ford Coppola chose it as the film set for the most important scenes of the first two episodes of "Il padrino" (" The Godfather ").
history
The castle of the slaves, called “Casteddu degli schiavi” in the local dialect, was named after an old legend from the 18th century. It is said that a doctor from Palermo - Gaetano Palmieri - cured the son of the King of Palagonia from a deadly disease about two centuries ago. Grateful to him, the king gave the doctor a piece of land from his fief that was near the river Fiumefreddo. So the doctor decided to build a castle to settle there. His wife Rosalia was delighted because she was the lover of Nello Corvaglia from Taormina. In the following years, the pirates landed along the arts and looted the castle. Mr Corvaja, who had observed the landing from the city of Taormina, prevented Mr and Mrs Palmieri from being caught by the pirates and drove them away. To thank God, a church was built next to the castle, dedicated to the Madonna of Sacra Lettera. A loggia was also built and two statues of two pirates were erected. It seems as if they are looking out to sea, waiting to be freed by their comrades. For this reason the castle was called "The Castle of Slaves".
Coordinates: 37 ° 47 ′ 29.8 ″ N , 15 ° 13 ′ 24.6 ″ E