{"id":1017,"date":"2026-07-30T13:10:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medievalsicily.org\/projects\/tre-cantoni\/history-tc\/site\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T13:10:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:10:40","slug":"site","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/medievalsicily.org\/en\/projects\/tre-cantoni\/history-tc\/site\/","title":{"rendered":"History of the site"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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History<\/a> \u00b7 subpage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History of the site<\/h1>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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The San Matteo<\/strong> Hill in Scicli was a site of fortification and settlement for many centuries. The earliest written sources mention a long siege of Scicli by the Arabs in the years 864\u2013865<\/strong>, which suggests the existence of a Byzantine phrourion<\/em> on the hill. In the 12th century Edrisi<\/strong> describes Scicli as qal’a<\/em> \u2014 a strong, isolated fortification at the top of the mountain.<\/p>\n

The first clear mention of two castles (castrum magnum<\/em> and castrum parvum<\/em>) dates from 1346<\/strong>. The castle “Tre Cantoni” has been identified in the sources since the 15th century as a structure with a defensive courtyard and the church Santa Maria la Raccomandata<\/strong> within the walls. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the castle played an important role in the defensive system of the County of Modica<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The archaeological research of the NCN OPUS 22 project verifies this picture. Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic analysis confirm that the main phase of the castle’s construction and use falls within the second half of the 14th \u2013 first half of the 15th century<\/strong>. The earthquake of 1693<\/strong> put an end to the history of both castles.<\/p>\n

Timeline \u2014 written sources vs. archaeological data<\/h3>\n
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Period<\/th>Written sources<\/th>Archaeological data<\/th><\/tr>\n<\/thead>
9th c.<\/td>Siege of Scicli (864\u2013865), presumed phrourion<\/em> Byzantine<\/td>No clear Byzantine layers in the stratigraphy<\/td><\/tr>\n
12th c.<\/td>Edrisi: qal’a<\/em> on the hill<\/td>No ceramic material from the Norman phase in the main contexts<\/td><\/tr>\n
2nd half of the 14th \u2013 1st half of the 15th c.<\/td>Castrum magnum<\/em> \/ parvum<\/em> (1346); Aragonese phase of the County of Modica<\/td>Main building phase<\/strong> confirmed by C-14 and ceramics<\/td><\/tr>\n
16th\u201317th c.<\/td>Role in the defensive system of the County of Modica<\/td>Wall repairs, early modern ceramics<\/td><\/tr>\n
1693<\/td>Earthquake<\/td>End of use<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Contribution of the project<\/h3>\n

The most significant contribution of the NCN OPUS 22 project to the historiography of Castello dei Tre Cantoni is the questioning of earlier hypotheses<\/strong> of the dominant Byzantine and Norman phase of the castle. The archaeological data \u2014 in particular the radiocarbon dating of the wall and the lime kiln, and the analysis of ceramics from the Saggio 3 stratigraphy \u2014 indicate the clear dominance of the Aragonese phase (14th\u201315th c.)<\/strong> as the main period of the site’s use.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u2190 Powr\u00f3t do History<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

History \u00b7 subpage History of the site The San Matteo Hill in Scicli was a site of fortification and settlement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":934,"menu_order":22,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1017","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHistory of the site - 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