Just 15 km far from Bronte (one of the famous villages at the foothills of the Sicilian volcano) , it's possible to be immersed into a well integrated contamination of English and Sicilian history.
"La Ducea di Nelson" or improperly called "the Castle of Nelson" or simply the "Abbay of Maniace", today is one of the innumerable exmples of the mixture of architecture and style that Sicily is.
Once a Benedectine fortified Monastery at the time of William the Good ,on previous traces of a Basilian monks residence,it carries the name of Maniace from ther Byzantine general who here in the surroundings took a memorable victory against the Saracens ,whose blood made the waters of the local river red .
On 1799 it became property of the admiral Horatio Nelson when the king Ferdinand III of Bourbon gave him ,together with the title of Duke of Bronte,as a gift after defeating the Neapolitan rebels against his kingdom.
Nelson never took residence there but his heirs transformed the old Abbey into a private rural royal House with a luxurious garden and building a British cemetery .
The Nelson -Bridport where the owner till 1981 when they sold it at a simbolic price to the city of Bronte.
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| one of the two courtyard with an old well built with lavic stone |
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| the Church of S.Maria Maniace on the ruins of the older religious buildings |
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| Celtic basaltic Cross in honor of Horatio Nelson |
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| the private residence ,temporarely closed to visitors |
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| the view from one of the two towers |
How interesting and beautiful! I have never heard of this before. Thank you, Lucia. I"ll be sure to go next time I'm in that area. Ciao ciao.
RispondiEliminaciao Jann
RispondiEliminayes it is, or at least I like it so much! The apartments are not visitable at the moment! what a pity!