Castello dei Carafa

The Carafa Castle is located on the cliffs overlooking the entire town of Roccella (from which it takes its name). Founded in Norman period by Gualtieri De Collepietro, the building passed to the Ruffo family for several generations, then to the Crotone's Marquis, Antonio Centelles and, finally, to the noble family Carafa della Spina, from who was partly rebuilt and restored. The monumental Castle formed an impregnable bulwark against the attack of turkish Dragut Pasha (1553). The ruins preserve the lytic portal surmounted by the crest of the Carafa della Spina family and a balcony with monumental carved corbels and decorated with masks. Inside, a courtyard, paved with eight channels in the shape of a star, which leads to the upper floors, where there were the private apartments. Adjacent to the building is the Mother Church of St. Nicholas of Bari, in an Ionian Baroque style.