The original sighting tower of rotondella was built in 1518 by the Prince of Salerno, Ferrante Sanseverino. Around this fort was built the baronial palace where they lived the officers of the prince and around which gathered the first inhabitants attracted by the possibility of obtaining a piece of land to cultivate. The palace built by the Sanseverino remains, in its integrity the tower of the prison, because the rest of the building was demolished and rebuilt in the early years of the twentieth century. The first inhabitants were three officers that riscuotevano the fide and caveats of the pastures of the defenses of the Rotunda and Trisaia. By the prince of Salerno passed to the family Agnes of Cardinal and then to the duke of Ielsi of Carrafa family. It has been the seat of the prison until a few years ago, at the beginning of 1800 it was transferred to the convent.
In 1900 it was a district jail where prisoners were discounting the penis minors or the last months of detention. The prison was divided into two parts, one intended for women and another for men and then a part for the guardian. We were prisoners belonging to the local mafia, the Sicilian Mafia and many others. The last held, of Stigliano, there was in 1997. Recently restored, is now used as a Municipal Library and Historical Archive, and it is possible to admire from the top of the tower a splendid panorama, with vision to 180° of the Ionic coast.