The Barresi Castle of Pietraperzia was built by Normans, between 1072 and 1088, on a pre-existent Saracen fortress. The castle was assigned to the French Abbon de Barres. Edrisi, well known as Arab geographer under the service of Ruggero II King Of Sicily, described the building in 1143 as " ... strong castle and valid fortress, it has extensive borders, prosperous quarters and plentiful waters ". The castle was widely used for war purposes, above all in the long and bloody struggles between Angioini and Aragonesi. The Barresi family trooped prevalently with Angioini and was French army's general quartier  for the Aidone, Naro and Caltanissetta conquest. The castle was besieged and destroyed in 1298 by Manfredi Chiaramonte; the Barresi family was forced to run away to Naples. The Barresi reacquired the castle in 1320 when the Queen Eleonora d’Angiò (bride promise of Federico, owner of the castle) gave it to his damsel Ricca La Matina in opportunity of his marriage with Abbo IV Barresi. The castel was rebuilt according to the new Gothic-Catalan style, what today we still see . Subsequently, the building got rich of magnificent residential characters, progressively losing the military appearance; the final result was so valuable to be considered as one of the most significant examples of the Italian Renaissance. The castle became an important culture and knowledge center: the Gagini worked there, humanists as Lorenzo Valla and Matteo Scobar instructed, madrigalistica music was composed at court, an astronomical observatory was installed, rudimentary books were printed there. In 1480 the castle was used as jail. The Barresi family died out in XVI century marking the beginning of the gradual castle decline. The real decay of the building started in 1812 when the feudalism was abolished. The castle did not receive the necessary maintenance any more and at the beginning of XX century, not more kept, was literally sacked of the building materials.