Motta Sant'Anastasia, Italy

Motta Sant'Anastasia, Italy

Motta Sant'Anastasia Italy

Motta Sant'Anastasia is a town and municipality in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region of Sicily, located about 160 kilometres southeast of Palermo and about 9 kilometres west of Catania. The Tower of Motta (a "donjon" or keep) was built between 1070 and 1074 on the orders of Count Roger of Hauteville. The massive tower, rectangular in plan with a base of about 21.5 by 9 by 17 metres and a height of about 21 metres, is a typical defensive structure of the early Middle Ages. The roof terrace still preserves almost all of its battlements (22 merlons with rounded tops). The structure consists of three storeys. Only the first still has its original pointed-arch windows on the outside and round-arched windows on the inside. The other two square windows on the upper levels, as well as the present main door, date back to the 15th century. The ground floor was designed for military accommodation and contains a number of defensive loopholes. On the Strada Provinciale 13, near the Strada Statale 121 (SS 121) and the neighbouring town of Misterbianco, is the German War Cemetery for German soldiers who fell in the Second World War.
Recommended airport
Catania Fontanarossa (CTA)
Nearby destinations