Work is underway in the castle of Schisò: it will be a cultural center and a museum

Giardini Naxos (Messina) – The works of the “construction site of knowledge” were inaugurated, the recovery and restoration works of the Schisò Castle, a monumental complex that belonged to private individuals which, in 2018, at the behest of Sebastiano Tusa, became part of the assets of the Sicilian Region through the purchase, in self-financing, of the Naxos Taormina Archaeological Park. “From the reconversion of the ancient stronghold and of the former factories for the processing of cannamele and citrus fruits, a cultural center and museum will be created – said the regional councilor for Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity, Alberto Samonà – it is a great result of the government Musumeci. Interventions such as the one we are inaugurating today enhance the sense and value that the protection of a cultural asset assumes and transform it into a process of development of a territory. With the Castle of Schisò open to public use Giardini Naxos will regain possession of a precious jewel which, through the testimonies collected, will be able to tell the world the story of the first Greek colony of Sicily, but also of the social and entrepreneurial reality that developed in the Castle of Schisò in more recent times. “During the initial logging and made safe, a mask of Silenus emerged, the unmistakable satyr with a mocking grin who, with an apotropaic function, Since the days of the Greek colony, Naxiots hang over the front door to keep evil spirits away. A find that was positively greeted by the staff of the Naxos Taormina Archaeological Park.

«Let’s start a new adventure to discover the less remote Naxos – underlined the director of the Park, Gabriella Tigano – the «Gardens» with the Castle on the sea and its towers drawn on the notebooks of past travelers, from the maps of Tiburzio Spannocchi to the watercolors of the landscape painters of the Grand Tour. Not only. The construction sites we are starting up will allow us to explore the ancient factory where, according to documentary sources, citrus fruits and sugar cane were processed. An exhilarating experience not only for us archaeologists, always on the hunt for stories and keepers of memories, but also for the community of Giardini, curious to know its past ».