Castello di Venetico, Medieval castle in Venetico, Italy

Castello di Venetico is a medieval fortress on a hilltop overlooking the Tyrrhenian coast, featuring a trapezoidal layout with round towers at each corner. The defensive walls remain intact, two towers are in good condition, patrol walkways connect different sections, and traces of residential rooms on the northwest side show where people once lived.

The Spadafora built the castle in the second half of the 15th century; direct descendants carry the surnames Monroy and Samonà. It stayed in good condition until the 1908 Messina earthquake, and wartime bombings added further damage. Carmelo Samonà and his sister Caterina restored it in 1920, Alberto and Antonio Samonà in 1958-60, and it served as the Samonà summer residence until 1969.

The chapel cross of the Sovereign Order of Malta was stolen together with a medieval stone portal; the chapel itself survives only as ruins on the east side. Two Spadafora knights were invested in the Order, Federico Spadafora e Spadafora on 4 March 1572 and Federico Spadafora Moncada on 25 April 1798.

The castle is a private residence, so visits are not open to the public; the structure is seen from the outside. Access to the hilltop of Venetico Superiore is from the south, up a staircase that once ended at a drawbridge, now gone. The west side keeps two cylindrical towers and stretches of the patrol walkways.

The chapel's cross of the Sovereign Order of Malta, linked to knights Federico Spadafora e Spadafora (invested 4 March 1572) and Federico Spadafora Moncada (25 April 1798), was stolen together with a medieval stone portal. Some sources attribute the design to architect Camillo Camilliani, but no architectural or documentary evidence supports this, and no secret passage to the castle of Spadafora has ever been found.