Castello di Acquafredda — Attraction in Siliqua

According to tradition, the castle of Acquafredda was built by the Donoratico della Gherardesca family when they took possession of the southwestern part of the Sardinia. In fact, count Ugolino dei Donoratico, a nobleman of Cagliari who was immortalized by Dante in Canto 23 of Inferno in the Divine Comedy, became the owner of the castle in 1257, while the fortress is older and was mentioned in a papal bull of 1215. After the death of Ugolino (1288), it went to Pisa, then to the Aragonese (1324) and later on from one feudal lord to another until it was redeemed by Victor Amadeus III of Savoy (1785).

From the top of a hill, the castle dominates the territory of Siliqua, which is four kilometres away. After climbing its slopes, the landscape varies from the green valley of Cixerri to Cagliari and from Marmilla to the Iglesiente area. From sunrise to sunset, you can see its shadows growing longer across the valley. It rises up out of the Mediterranean scrub and it has three levels that blend harmoniously with the sloping ground. You will enter at a height of 150 metres through a door that was once defended by three towers joined together by a boundary wall. The central one still survives and has recently been renovated. Inside the defensive line, there was the village with dwellings, warehouses, stables, cisterns and mills. Halfway up, at about 200 metres, stands the formidable cistern tower, which provided a huge supply of water: not surprisingly, the name Acquafredda comes from a spring that flows from the rocks on the hillside. In the highest part (250 metres) stand the impressive walls of the fortified tower, the dwelling of the castellan, accessible via a drawbridge. The building had a basement with a cistern (still well-preserved), two floors and a terrace fortified with 'Guelph' merlons. The entrance led to an open space, around which the rooms were located. On the second floor, you can admire the watchtower, which is still intact: it is possible that Vanni Gubetta was also imprisoned there. He was the accomplice of archbishop Ruggeri (also mentioned in the Inferno of the Divine Comedy) in the betrayal of Ugolino.

After the visit, you can take a break at the foot of the hill in a eucalyptus and pine forest with a...

The castle is maybe 40 minutes from Cagliari and is sign posted once close. There is a good sized and shaded car park on site.

The castle is on a steep, conical mountain and dates to the thirteenth century, built to control access to the local silver and lead mines. It was owned by Pisa and then Aragon before passing in to disuse. The guy in the ticket office was really helpful and explained some background and safety tips before we started the climb. It was 260m through dense pine forest to the summit and although that is pathetic compared to Maz's endevour it was sweaty work! The pictures don't cover the birdsong or the scent of pine trees but take it from me, it was fantastic, expecially as we only saw one other visitor in the 2 hours we were there.

The castle was split into three lines of defence as you climbed the hill and the path was a mixture of stone steps and wooden walkways. At the summit we were told the safety barrier was advisory so, working on my usual principle of I know best, we crossed it to carry on up to the keep. There were only a few bits of wall left but it gave an idea of the strength of the place and also the skill and effort that went in to building it! Originally the only access to the keep was a bridge built across the hillside from the guard tower but luckily they now have far more sensible steps!

The climb up and down, although hard work, was really lovely and we saw lots of lizards and birds although none of the frogs or snakes that inhabit the hillside. There were some huge mushrooms though, the size of tea plates! Quite a bargain at €4 each. The entrance fee, not...

E così, quest'anno finalmente sono riuscito ad andarci. E stata un'ottima esperienza salire fino al castello. I sentieri ben tenuti come tutto il tracciato a volte data la pendenza sostituito da scale in legno. La flora che con i suoi profumi accompagna fino alla cima che per raggiungere bastano 35 40 minuti. Se poi ci si ferma a fare le foto come me anche un'ora, ma non è sicuramente tempo perso. E poi gli ampi panorami dalla cima su tutto il Cixerri compreso il lago. E le rovine che danno ancora la sensazione della grandiosità del sito e della storia che raccontano. Andateci, non ve ne pentirete.

Qualche info sul sito.

Il castello di Acquafredda è un’importante testimonianza di struttura fortificata di epoca medioevale,si trova a Siliqua nel sud Sardegna a circa 30 km da Cagliari, si innalza su di un colle di origine vulcanica sviluppandosi per un’altezza di 256 metri rispetto al livello del mare. Il sito denominato “Domo Andesitico di Acquafredda”, è stato istituito a Monumento Naturale dalla regione Sardegna, Si tratta di una struttura di origine vulcanica, derivata dal raffreddamento e dal consolidamento rapido della lava, che, spinta dal basso verso l’uscita di una bocca vulcanica, per la sua viscosità si è ammassò sul posto senza espandersi in superficie. Pensate che siamo tra i 27,6 e i 27,8 milioni di anni fa . Dal ritrovamento di una bolla Papale datata 30 luglio 1238, si ritiene, che il castello esistesse già in quella data, ma è opinione diffusa attribuire la sua costruzione al celebre nobile pisano Ugolino Della Gherardesca conte di Donoratico sin dal 1257, anno in cui divenne Signore della parte sud – occidentale della Sardegna dopo la caduta del Giudicato di Cagliari. Caduto in disgrazia, il conte fu imprigionato a Pisa nella torre dei Gualandi poi chiamata “Torre della Fame” dove muore nel 1288. Le vicende del conte Ugolino sono divenute illustri grazie ai profondi versi di Dante Alighieri nella Divina Commedia: «La bocca sollevò dal fiero pasto quel peccator…» che  troviamo nel XXXIII canto della Cantica...