Cuba Soprana
The Cuba Soprana was a castle of the Norman kings of Sicily to the west of Palermo . Like the castles of Zisa , Uscibene and Cuba Sottana, it was in the royal park outside the city.
history
The Cuba Soprana was built in the 12th century under King Wilhelm II. It was given the name Cuba Soprana (upper Cuba) to distinguish it from the Cuba Sottana , which is further down the valley and is now commonly called "La Cuba". In the 15th century, the Cuba Soprana was converted into a defense tower and was given the name Torre Alfaina .
In the 16th century, the Ventimiglia family converted the ruins of the Torre Alfaina into a villa, which later became Villa Napoli . The fact that this villa stood on the site of the original Cuba Soprana was forgotten until 1920, when Norman masonry with bricked-up pointed arches was discovered on the east facade of the villa, which Nino Basile identified as a remnant of the Cuba Soprana. During a restoration of the villa that began in 1995, this masonry was exposed again.
description
The Cuba Soprana was presumably a two-story building that was built over a rectangular floor plan.
Contemporary accounts show that the water from a nearby spring was led into the building through a canal and divided into five radiating canals in the easternmost room.
In the park surrounding the Cuba Soprana there were several small pavilions, of which only the Cubula has survived .
literature
- Museum Without Borders (Ed.): Arab-Norman Art - Sicily's Culture in the Middle Ages . International cycle of exhibition streets Islamic Art in the Mediterranean, Ernst Wasmuth Verlag Tübingen Berlin, 2004, ISBN 3803041023
Web links
- Image of the east wall of Villa Napoli with remains of the wall of the Cuba Soprana
- La Cuba Soprana e la Cubula. (pdf, 1.7 MB) In: Palermo ei suoi giardini nell'età arabo normanna. Scuola Media "Falcone e Borsellino" Lascari, pp. 83-85 , accessed on March 26, 2009 (Italian).
Coordinates: 38 ° 6 ′ 22.4 ″ N , 13 ° 20 ′ 4 ″ E