The castle, now in a state of ruins, was described as follows in the mid-18th century by Vito Amico: «Raised the fortress in the’supreme height towards Libeccio, very wide, and by nature and art munitissima for a long time; subsist the walls all’intorno».
Although the manor has now largely collapsed, the few remaining membranes suggest the image of an exceptional bulwark, the result of an original mixture of defensive works created by man and provided by nature; the few walls that together with the palatine chapel still remain standing are clear evidence of a vast and mighty structure, organized within an irregular perimeter that follows the orography of the ground.
The southern front, the one most in view, rests on a vertical rock face and is its natural continuation; it is about five feet thick and shows a scarp-like outer face, with a slope that reached from the base to the line of support of the windows, as can be detected by the only large opening still standing. This was a mullioned window with a central column and seats on the jambs, while a short distance away still remains a small single-light window defined by a trefoil arch. On the northern side opens the’current access to the castle via a ramp partly carved into the rock that flows into the side portal of the chapel.
At the’meeting of the north and west sides è positioned a high and mighty cantonal (about two meters thick), probably belonging to a corner tower, which from the inner side still holds the’graft of two vaults corresponding to two elevations of the castle. In addition, near the chapel, two large well-preserved cisterns can be seen, partly dug into the rock and covered with lowered barrel vaults, which have on the extrados the mouths for drawing water; the interior è covered with a thick layer of waterproof plaster based on coccio pesto, and in the neighboring bodies of the building the works of adduction of rainwater, made with clay tiles and catusi, can be found.
Examination of the remaining parts and comparison with other fortified buildings suggests this functional organization: on the lower floors, in addition to the underground rooms used as cisterns and food storage, there must have been other service rooms (stables, weapons rooms, troop quarters and kitchens), the upper floor was intended for the residence of the lord and his court, as evidenced by the mullioned windows opening on the southern side, while on the roof was obtained a patrol walkway defended by battlements. The first fortified nucleus canò be traced back to the middle of the’8th century, at the time when the Byzantines, threatened by the’Arab invasion, entrenched themselves in the Sicilian hinterland; è it is presumable that this arrangement was maintained in the following centuries, while to the’età Norman is to be traced the construction of the tower recognizable in the mighty cantonal of the’northwest corner; it had to be erected before 1082, since reference is made to it in the chronicles of Goffredo Malaterra, which tell of the opposition between the great Count Roger and the militant Angelmaro, to whom Geraci had been assigned.
The castle reached its final arrangement in the first decades of the fourteenth century, when è presumably it was adapted to the new social and political rank of Count Francesco I Ventimiglia, and it was during this period that it experienced its phase of greatest splendor.