Nelson's Castle

September 17, 2017

Nelson's Column in London is one of the most famous monuments in the world, but have you ever heard of Nelson's Castle? Well, it exists, and it is in Sicily!

One autumnal day, we decided to take a road trip to seek out Castello Nelson also known as Castello di Maniace.

Off the beaten track and tucked away in the shadow of Mount Etna, the castle is located near the beautiful town of Bronte and takes approximately 2 hours by car from Taormina passing through the stunning Alcantara Valley and the medieval towns of Francavilla di Sicilia, Castiglione di Sicilia, Randazzo and of course Bronte which is famous for its pistachio production.

It is a spectacular drive through fruit orchards, olive groves, past vineyards and pistachio trees, often having to stop to let shepherds with their herds of cows, goats or sheep pass by, a traffic jam Sicilian style.

On arrival as we pulled into the car park everywhere looked abandoned and closed. We parked the car and decided to walk and investigate.

We found a little kiosk selling snacks and drinks, from here we purchased our tickets and were advised that someone would come along with the keys to the castle and let us in.

A lady came along with a huge set of keys and opened the iron gates that were adorned with ornate N’s, she let us in to the main courtyard and opened the castle’s main door and left us alone …. We had the whole of Nelson’s castle and estate to ourselves to explore.

The castle (a former monastery) and the estate was given to Lord Nelson as part of his dukedom by the King of Naples, Ferdinand I in gratitude for British help overcoming the Neapolitan revolution of 1799 and for bringing the royal family back to safety in Palermo. The Royals were not the only people to be saved, Lady Hamilton was also a passenger and it was in Sicily that she became Nelson's mistress.

Nelson never actually saw or visited his castle,

nor did his heir and brother William. However his daughter Charlotte married into another famous naval family, the Hoods and she started a close connection between the family and Castello di Nelson which lasted up until 1981.

It is now owned by the Commune of Bronte.

On entering the courtyard there is a stunning Celtic cross (another gift). To your right a Norman church and left the entrance to the house. Once inside the house it could be easily mistaken for an English country residence.

Main House

The same Englishness is also evident in the well-tended gardens which are surrounded by woodlands. In the gardens there are box hedges and magnolias happily living alongside exotic palm trees and the odd curious cat.

Inside the house there are relics of Nelson’s family, along the main corridor there are portraits of Lord Nelson’s descendants, autographed letters by the English royal family including a letter from Queen Elizabeth I inviting members of Nelson's family to her Coronation. There are also medals, naval battle plans and military orders.

On display there are two crystal glasses and the bottle that Nelson used just before his death during the battle of Trafalgar aboard HMS Victory.

The Bottle and Glasses used just before Nelsons death

Nelson had planned many renovations to the house in the hope that he and Lady Hamilton would one day retire to Bronte and live a peaceful and quiet life away from whispers and gossip.

Having the whole house to ourselves was an amazing opportunity and we felt overwhelmed but eventually we had to leave, so we locked the door and returned the keys.

Close to the castle is an English cemetery however this is private as it still belongs to Nelson’s descendants.

One other fascinating connection to the castle is the literary sisters, Anne, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, their father the Reverend Patrick Prunty had such a huge obsession for Lord Nelson that he changed his surname to Bronte.

Unfortunately Nelson’s Castle is now closed to public but available for weddings and special events.

But Castello Nelson is not the only property on the island with a connection to Lord Nelson …

In Taormina on Via Luigi Pirandello 99 you will see "Villa La Falconara". This villa was built in around 1780 by Lord Nelson and is spread over three floors covering an area of about 350 square meters. From the road it looks very small as you can only see the entrance however the surrounding gardens has an entire area of about 50,000 squares metres which extends down the entire length of the mountainside down to the sea and has thick vegetation of a tropical nature and numerous shrubs of local species which views across the Ionian Sea, Mount Etna and Giardini Naxos. It currently lays empty and currently is up for sale but not for €1 add quite a few more zeros.

NEXT Blog post coming soon:

“Taormina ... the British Legacy"