At night, the floodlit ruins of the Castello Città di Gerace at Gerace, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy, dominate surrounding countryside. The moated Byzantine stronghold, damaged by Arab forces in 986 AD, was strengthened by Normans and leading families in the 1000s AD. It included an imposing angular keep with straight walls rising from a circular base, a chapel and a battlemented Hall of Arms. The garrison drew water from a Roman cistern. Although the castle was further strengthened under Spanish rule, it was wrecked by earthquakes and the ruins were further reduced in World War Two.
Gerace, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy: at night, the floodlit ruins of the Castello Città di Gerace dominate the 500 m (1,600 ft) cliff on which the ancient town was founded. The near-vertical cliff was formed about 60 million years ago from accumulated sediment & sea fossils, but it now lies about 10 km (6 miles) inland. The castle was founded during the Byzantine period on an earlier Graeco-Roman structure, but was badly damaged in 986 AD when Gerace was overrun by Arab forces. It was repaired and further fortified by the Normans in the 11th century, and again by a series of leading noble families. It was surrounded by a moat spanned by a 10m (33 ft) drawbridge resting on a rock-hewn pillar. The fortress eventually included an imposing angular keep with straight walls rising from a circular base, a chapel and a magnificent battlemented Hall of Arms. The garrison used corridors hacked from solid rock and drew water from a cistern of Roman origin. Although the castle was further strengthened under Spanish rule, it was badly damaged by a series of earthquakes and was almost completely destroyed by one in 1783. The surviving remains were further reduced during the Second World War.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Gerace, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 500, ancient, angular, arab, base, battlemented, built, byzantine, byzantium, calabria, calabrian, castello, castle, castles, circular, cistern, città, cliff, crag, , damage, damaged, dark, darkness, deep, di, drawbridge, drum, earthquake, floodlighting, floodlights, floodlit, forces, fortifications, fortified, fortress, fortresses, gerace, greco-roman, illuminated, invasion, italian, italy, kerr, lit, medieval, moat, night, normans, overgrown, pillar, rebuilt, reggio, rock, roman, ruin, ruined, rule, site, southern, spanned, strengthened, stronghold, strongholds, supplied, surrounded, terence, toe, tower, towers, walls, war, water, world
