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Visit Cefala Diana
The town of Cefala Diana is situated in north-western Sicily, south-east of Palermo. The town has always had a focus on agriculture but recently, thanks to a better appreciation of its artistic and architectural heritage, Cefalà Diana has become an attractive tourist destination.
The "Arab Baths" and "The Castle" are the two main highlights in Cefalà Diana, and both are surrounded by much confusion about their real origins - in particular it seems likely following recent excavations that the 'Arab baths' were constructed in the 12th-14th centuries, not during the Arab period and not, as also sometimes suggested, with origins in the Roman period. Both the Arab Baths and Castle are set in a landscape of considerable charm, now located in the "Natural Reserve” of Cefalà Diana, created in 1997 by the Sicilian Region.
In the words of Michele Amari, one of the greatest scholars of the Arab Sicily times, who despaired of reaching a solution about the dating of the Cefalà Diana Baths: "We cannot hope for now, or for ever, to arrive at the origin of this monument" (M. Amari, “Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia”).
Arab Baths in Cefala Diana
Although not of Arab origin, the baths follow the Arab tradition of building, which has certainly misled their identification - and the baths have a charm, whichever period they date from. The plan of the building is of rectangular shape, about 15 feet wide and 7 tall with a barrel vault and five pointed arched openings, two of which were later closed and converted into two windows. The masonry wall was built according to the modules of the "opus incertum", that is, formed with stones of irregular shape.
Inside there are two rooms of different sizes, divided by two columns with Tuscan capitals and bases on which rest three red clay brick arches. The central arch is of ogival shape and the two sides are curve, one hand resting on the capitals and the other on side walls. The vault has a number of cylindrical holes, for lighting the interior, the outside-out water vapor and the re-air exchange. The base of the vault is articulated by many channels, which in addition to the aesthetic function, were also used to block the water formed by condensation of vapor from flowing along the inner surface of the vault. In the floor there are three basins. The front is separated from the back of the room with the "tribelon", a triple arcade of Arabian style, with thin columns with marble capitals and terracotta pulvinus, and behind the "tribelon" there is another smaller basin, where they gathered the thermal waters that flowed naturally from the ground and were then channeled to the big basins.
The presence of an inscription in Arabic "Kufic" letters (featuring Arabic script which is a geometric shape of graphemes), did much to strengthen the idea that the building dated back to the Islamic times.
Cefala Diana Castle
No less complicated than the dating of the Arab baths are the issues concerning the historical castle of Cefalà Diana, traditionally attributed to the Normans because of a document from 1121 which noted the presence of a castle in the feud of Cefalà. On this point there is a considerable confusion, which stems from the fact that the traditional data is accurate but incomplete i.e. it doesn't tell us everything that we would need to know for a correct assessment of the historical data.
It is true that in 1121 there was a castle of Norman origin in Cefalà - problem is, the castle was not located where today wa see the remains of the castle of Cefalà Diana*.
* Explanatory note: This has been explained very well by Ferdinando Maurici in the "Melanges de l'Ecole française de Rome,": "[...] To avoid confusion it is necessary to clarify immediately that the document of 1121, among others of the XI and XIII century, which mention Cefalà Diana, do not refer to the current site of the town or to the castle existing just outside the small town. It has been shown with certainty that Cefalà of the Norman times, with its "castellum" of 1121, was located on Mount ‘Chiarastella’, a few hundred meters as the crow flies from the town of Cefalà Diana...the archaeological remains on Mount Chiarastella, however, prove the existence of a village with a fortress and pottery dating to the XI-XII century (See Ferdinando Maurici, in "Melanges de l'Ecole française de Rome: Moyen âge”, L'Ecole , 1993, Vol. 105, 1: 233-234).
...so when Al Idrisi (1099-1165) wrote of the existence of "Cefalà, a small village [that] has an extensive district and a large area, with farm-houses and spacious (...) lands to be sown," he was referring to the "old" village of Cefalà, which was abandoned in the thirteenth century and moved to the foot of the "new castle", built by the Chiaramonte.
A little more history: Cefalà castle was part of a system of fortresses located on neighboring peaks; with the development of feudalism the territory of Cefalà was disputed among the most powerful feudal lords struggling for the control of high impregnable places from which it was very easy to control the access roads toward Palermo. The castle of Cefalà was built for the expansionist strategy of one of the most powerful lords of Sicily, the Chiaramonte, in a social-political context of complete anarchy. With the death of the centralized figure of Frederick II of Swabia (1194-1250), the ambitious Sicilian feudal families were unleashed in a relentless struggle for domination of larger possessions. Hence the birth of so many castles, the construction of which was encouraged by powerful feudal Sicilian families such as the Chiaramonte, Ventimiglia, Abbate, and several Catalan families settled in Sicily, such as the Alagona, Peralta and Moncada
Inside the castle there were two large cisterns that collected rainwater. The castle was shaped like a triangle to the north and east of it was built on sheer rock, so, given the inaccessible area, the walls were thin (less than a meter). To the west the walls reached a thickness of 1m40 since the area was more exposed to external attacks. The mighty tower, built on the highest point of rock and 20 meters high was of rectangular shape and divided into four levels. The tower certainly had a defensive purpose, but its main function was to control the road linking Palermo to Agrigento. Its prominent position and its rough appearance, without a decorative detail, let us imagine a fortress without comfort. In fact, it rarely served as home to the barons. Perched on a sandstone cliff 657 meters above sea level, the castle has a certain originality; the central courtyard of triangular shape is situated on the rock and it was surrounded by a high wall, of which little survives today, with merlons and other defensive works. The castle was entered through a double entrance, in which there were some large rooms such as stables, storehouses and quarters for the garrison
Today, after restorations, the castle can be visited by tourists.
See also Cefala Diana history and etymology.