As told by the works of the Catanese puppets, the castle built by Frederick II of Swabia was initially inhabited not by humans but by the giants Ursini (hence the name).
The paladin Uzeta, born from the creative mind of Don Raffaele Trombetta, a skilled puppeteer from Catania, reworked the story of the giants of the Castle where, in his version, it would not be Roger the hero who defeated the Saracen giants, but a valiant condottiero of Catania, Uzeta, son of a humble weaver, who lived in via Naumachia.
Once the seat of parliament, the castle has walls about 10 m high and 2.50 thick built with lava stone, circular towers, a moat outside as protection and a drawbridge.
The destiny of the castle was not always to be the home of the castellans: at the beginning of the 16th century it was transformed into a prison for political prisoners, uncomfortable characters and criminals of a certain rank. It is said that the conditions under which the prisoners were held were chilling and that in about two centuries the prison released only 14 prisoners: all the others never left the castle walls alive.
The cells were small, dark and infested with mice and other animals.
On the walls of those death chambers you can still see the graffiti, the inscriptions and signs of the condemned, their last thoughts and what today shows us their existence.
The phrases, often disconnected, are mostly written in Sicilian, but since there are also foreign prisoners there are also thoughts written in Latin and Spanish.
It is said that in addition to being a museum today it is also a place of extrasensory manifestations.
It is said, of doors that open and close at will, of objects that move without anyone directing them, of moans and cries that terrify visitors.
Legend has it that the spirits belonged not only to the prisoners who died within their walls but also to those from Catania who had opposed the construction of the castle and that the king had "drowned in their own blood".
