# The Sicilian Chateau Miranda - Tarfuri Castle. ***PICTURE INTENSIVE***



## TeeJF (Jun 28, 2013)

*Roll up, roll up! Get your bargains 'ere! it's two for the price of one day today! :

Industrial? Overseas? Residential? Which piggin' forum does this report need to go into??? Yes folks, it's Part Two of our Sicilian urbex tour! This one is all about superb mansion house that eventually became a posh hotel, but I've thrown in the adjacent tuna cannery all at no extra cost. *

On the south-eastern tip of Sicilia, practically as far as you can travel on land before you must inevitably fall off the cliff edge and start a long swim towards Malta, there is a prominent headland. As you drive down the coastal road towards your destination there are no tantalising hints, no tiny glimpses, not even a suggestion that you are going in the right direction; not until your GPS says you are only a few hundred yards away.

And then ... ! POW ! ... the castle practically leaps onto your bonnet. The wow factor of turning the corner and suddenly seeing this magnificent building with little or no warning is absolutely immense.

At first sight Tafuri Castle looks incredibly majestic and very old, and it has proved extremely difficult to date the building and the adjacent tuna cannery with 100% accuracy. Despite some aspects of its appearance hinting at a much older construction, perhaps as early as the mid to late 1800s, the predominance of Art Nouveau stylistic embellishments actually points to a probable date in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The best evidence we have unearthed so far indicates a completion date towards the end of 1935. The delicately coloured stone from which it is built was quarried on Isola delle Correnti (The Island of Currents) which sits literally on the southern tip of Sicilia 4 miles away, and the architect who designed the castle was Saverino Crotti from Florence.An elevation from the original architect's drawings can be seen BELOW... 





The bay below the headland upon which the castle is constructed faces almost directly southeast and it is very sheltered from the prevailing winds by a large island a little further out to sea on the same axis. The high, steep sided cliffs directly behind the bay to the northwest, shield it from winds from that direction, and so all that was required to convert the bay into a very safe harbour was the construction of a small breakwater and a slipway. To this day the bay is still used for mooring luxury yachts and small boats of all shapes and sizes.

Tuna migrates into the warmer waters of the Mediterranean from the cold Atlantic Ocean for part of the year and when the season begins it was, and still is, fished off Sicily "_à la mattanza_". This is the name for the traditional method involving netting the huge fish by hand from boats which often have with no engines. Once the nets have been progressively pulled tight and the huge tuna brought up to just below the surface they are gaffed out of the water into the boats. BELOW...




​

The Italian name for this fishing technique translates as "_the slaughter_", and the sea literally turns red with the blood of the fish. At first sight this method appears to be quite barbaric however it is actually a very sustainable form of fishing, unlike modern trawling which indiscriminately nets all shapes, sizes and species of fish in the immediate vicinity causing death en masse for literally anything caught in the net. Dolphins also die in huge numbers by drowning when they are caught in the nets of conventional tuna trawlers.

At some point a local man, Signor Bruno di Belmonte, built a tuna cannery in the bay immediately below the headland in order to tap into the wealth the über abundance of tuna was creating, and long before the progressive decline in numbers hit the trade he had made an absolute fortune. With his bank account bulging at the metaphorical seams an appropriate status symbol was required so he set about elaborately decorating the cannery in mock-Grecian style, and finally he built himself the ultimate status symbol - a beautiful mansion - on the headland immediately above the bay. 

In the nearby village which still has a church dating back to the 1500s, most of the 50 or so inhabitants worked at the cannery, but the writing was on the wall for both their livelihoods and the cannery itself. Massive over-fishing of the Mediterranean (and all seas for that matter) has resulted in fish stocks plummeting in a relatively short time - I first dived off Malta in 1980 and at that time the sea there was literally wall to wall fish, albeit small species. After an absence of about 25 years I dived again and I could not believe how barren it had become in so few years. Cyprus too was much the same - on one dive to 100 feet plus in 2007 we counted a grand total of ten small fish in an hour long dive. Inevitably with such a huge slump in tuna numbers the cannery was soon suffering financial difficulties and eventually it closed down putting the locals out of work. The di Belmonte family could no longer afford the upkeep of the Castle and that too was eventually put up for sale.

In either the 1950s or the 1970s, depending upon which version of the story you read, along came a Signor Tafuri from Pachino, the nearest town some three miles northwest as the crow flies. With money he had carefully saved from the successful pharmacy he had run for many years he was able to buy the Castle and he set about transforming it into a luxury hotel and restaurant. No expense was spared and it was decorated throughout with luxury carpets, expensive paintings and suits of armour. For a while everything went well and business up on the headland boomed. It became the destination of choice for many actors, celebrities and entertainers of the time and local people would visit the hotel for special occasions such as weddings etc. As a result the hotel was booked solid throughout most of the year and even during the quiet winter months when other hotels saw a drop off in customer numbers Tafuri Castle did well. Here is a period postcard of the Castle in its heyday as a hotel BELOW... 





Then in 1990 Signor Tafuri died. Ordinarily this should not have been a problem but the spectre of greed soon reared its ugly head as the relatives of Signor Tafuri fought over who would inherit the Castle. Before too long no one would pay the caretaker's wages and then when he left no one would pay for security. As always happens when a property stands empty for more than a few weeks the house was looted, squatters moved in, and before too long anything with any value had been stripped out, even down to the electrical wiring and plumbing.

And inevitably the house began to slide down the road to dereliction.​
There seems to have been little in the way of interest in the Castle since it fell into disrepair though with an asking price in excess of five million Euros it is hardly likely to be snapped up by the likes of you or me. One interesting anecdote we uncovered whilst researching the Castles history is that the wife of Formula One driver Michael Schumacher fell in love with the place when she was visiting Sicilia in 2008. Clearly he didn't share her enthusiasm though or I suspect our access would not have been quite so easy when we explored the place in 2013!

It's a terrible shame to see such a stunning property sitting neglected and empty and we could not help but find ourselves comparing it to another beautiful mansion that is also slowly decaying - Chateau Miranda in Belgium.


*The piccies...​*








* The first sight of this place is absolutely astounding. You literally see nothing and then WHAM  *









*We wandered quietly up the approach road after parking up, ever mindful of the fact that we have no
idea what trespass law is in Sicily PLUS the people don't have much respect for the law anyway. *









* All the Art Nouveau embellishments are what give away the age of this place, dating it 
as 1930s rather than an authentic earlier look as was perhaps intended by the architect. *









* This is the first lounge of many. Once it became a hotel it appears it was decorated in a mock medieval style inside. *









*Check out the view   *









*Out on the patio and looking down at the pool. *









* Looking along the back of the building towards the lounge through which we had just come out. *









*Time to go back in again. *









* How big is this room  But then, when you spend next to nothing heating a place size is less of an issue. *









*From lounge to lounge to restaurant, all in one view. *









* In the second lounge now. *









* The centre of the building is a courtyard and garden surrounded by cool, airy walkways. *









* It must have been lovely once upon a time. *









* Attention to detail. *









* In the restaurant now. *









* Anyone for pizza  *










*The tuna cannery chimney can be seen through all the windows on this side of the Castle. *









* The derelict tuna cannery dominates the bay. *









*Time to wander through the hall and up the stairs. *









* The carpet is still just about surviving on the stairs. *









* And on Playschool today children we will look through the round window   *









* I wonder if Giggio loved him and his Vespas quite as much  *









* Another glimpse of the obelisk that is the cannery chimney. *









*Roof-topping Sicilian style. *









* Terracotta chimney pots. *









*A room with a view   *









* Manning the ramparts on a sunny Sicilian day. *









* It was seriously hot too. *









* Kenny Lynch would love this roof  *









* *sighs* *









* **sighs again** *









*Oddly we couldn't find the way up the last few stairs to the top of the tower so this was as close as we got. *









*Time to go back downstairs now. *









*If I look as sick as a chip it's because I was. I would love this gaff and it's standing rotting for want of 5 million bucks.  *









*A last look back before we wander down to the cannery. *









* At the cannery gates. *









* The Castle totally dominates the cannery. *









* Ionic pillars and Hellenic busts decorate the cannery. *









* The route down the hillside to the cannery dock. *









* The first of several busts adorning the cannery walls. *









*Here's another. *









* On the waterfront now - check out the Greek style freeze on the building wall. *









* Two anchors once used by the mattanza fleet boats. *









* Even the chimney is elaborately embellished. *









* Most of the processing house roof has gone now. We think that the platform on the wall was for a sentry to look out for the incoming mattanza boats. *









* It might be relatively modern but don't you think this has a real Roman Empire feel to it  *









* A "forest" of columns. *









* Yet another bust  *









* And this is where she lives  *
​

* That's yer lot for now. Thanks for looking. ​*


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## oldscrote (Jun 28, 2013)

That's bloody lovely that is....sighs


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## gingrove (Jun 28, 2013)

What a waste but 5 million euros seems like a lot of money for what's left!


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## UrbanX (Jun 28, 2013)

Mental, that looks amazing! 
Perfect analergy, that is Chateau Mirandas holiday home! 
Fantastic photos and in depth write up as usual!


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## TeeJF (Jun 28, 2013)

Thanks y'all.



gingrove said:


> What a waste but 5 million euros seems like a lot of money for what's left!



Not really mate I don't think... It's huge inside and the basic structure of the building is good. The roofs are almost all intact with just one fallen through. The internal services have been ripped out of course and there's not a window left but the key thing is the structure and that's good almost throughout. Even the pool looks like it just needs cleaning out and refilling.

But it's never going to sell at that price even if it's worth it because we are in recession, Italy even more than us - so why do they stick out for a price they'll never get whilst the building deteriorates and loses value exponentially?

I wish I could get the lads from Auf Wiedersehen down there!


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## flyboys90 (Jun 28, 2013)

Superb report & photos.


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## Paulytwotanks (Jun 28, 2013)

Excellent! Reminds me of my trip to Malta earlier this year. So nice to see that the sun shines somewhere.... Strange how those busts have been retro-fitted to the walls. Great report thanks


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## Stealthstar79 (Jun 28, 2013)

Beautiful location! 
The sea looks so tempting even though it's p*ssing it down here!
Fab pics and cracking write up,
Thanks!


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## sonyes (Jun 28, 2013)

Now that's just bloody lovely!!! Superb report and excellent pics mate........Lovely scenery too


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## chris (Jun 28, 2013)

Beautiful . Hmmm do they have squatter's rights in Sicily?


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## TeeJF (Jun 28, 2013)

Thanks guys!




chris said:


> Beautiful . Hmmm do they have squatter's rights in Sicily?



There were squatters in the place but there aren't now. I'm not sure what Italian law says about squatting but I strongly suspect Sicilian law says, "squat inna ma house and I blowa your head off".


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## Ace5150 (Jun 29, 2013)

Two top reports!


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## chris (Jun 29, 2013)

TeeJF said:


> Thanks guys!
> There were squatters in the place but there aren't now. I'm not sure what Italian law says about squatting but I strongly suspect Sicilian law says, "squat inna ma house and I blowa your head off".



I think I can understand that - squatting in southern Europe can have a different meaning


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## Romford Reject (Jun 29, 2013)

Marvellous report, and a wondeful place. Anyone lend me 5 mllion?


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## Quattre (Jul 13, 2013)

When you think of it, what a massive amount of money was put into this place, first for building it, then to turn it into a hotel...all that for less than a century of use, this is crazy. Thanks for this nice and depressing report.


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