We've no an exact date about the origin of the Pietratagliata Castle of Aidone, also known as "Castello Gresti". It's superbly placed on a particular rocky ridge. Its stony structure leans on extensive waterproof clay layers. In the base of the rock we find a delicious little lake, called "l'urna", which is preserved also in the summer period when the torrent becomes dry.

By a short vision, the contemporary presence of different structures, which have superimposed themselves with the passing of the centuries, is perceived soon: grottoes which were prehistoric habitations, the sighting fortress and the further extension of the building complex, that is stores and country habitations which had become a "fortified masseria" by now. The entry of the castle is near the road which connects Raddusa and Valguarnera.

By a stony stair one accesses in a wide store made up of two big rooms divided by powerful arcs. On two jambs, two enrolments probably dating back to the building of the store are noticed.  In front of the main entrance, the beginning of a way which protected men from the enemy arrows. Going upstairs you accesses the "massaro" habitation with the terrace.

The last part of the path, carved in the rock, is delimited by the wall which protects from the deep gully on the left side and by a rocky buttress which supports the tower, on the right side. This detail forced the advancing enemies to expose their right flank to defenders's arrows.

Coming in from the door, an underground corridor leads to a lodge.  Then you access in a rectangular cave, dug into the sandstone, provided with a window, that was certainly a preistoric habitation. The presence of water and game in the surrounding forests  must have attracted human settlements since the superior Paleolithic age.

The access ramp to the superior plans (maybe connected to a drawbridge) is destroyed, so only bold men are able to continue the visit. In the first plan an entry is found, through which one accesses to the stair, leading to the superior level, and to a room equiped with a window and two seats, typical of the Middle Ages.

A window is placed on the west side of the castle, overlooking onto the cliff, while in the east one, a door is present which was used as exit for not pleasant guests. In the center of the corridor, boxed in the rock, is placed a cistern with terracotta pipes which was used to pick up the rainwater coming from the roof. In these rooms some elements of the ancient splendour of the castle are found: the floor of the first room is destroyed  but the plaster is still present, the access portal made of lava, the smiling face sculpted on the architrave and the dome, everything reveals  some "noble" function .

By the stony stair, you reach the highest part of the big rock from which enjoy the splendid Morgantina and Aidone sight.

The access to the terrace of the tower was allowed by a wonderful winding staircase, made inside the tower and precisely in the South-east corner.

Free text by Giuseppe Tomarchio, "The Pietratagliata castle",

Il Lunario publisher, Enna, 1992