At the extreme tip of Ortigia, where the Porto Grande meets the open sea, Frederick II of Swabia had this masterpiece of Swabian military architecture built between 1232 and 1240: a perfect square measuring 51 meters on each side with four cylindrical corner towers. The name comes from the Byzantine general George Maniaces who briefly reconquered the city from the Arabs in 1038. The entrance portal is splendid, made of polychrome marbles; inside, the large hypostyle hall features ribbed vaults on columns. It served as a royal residence, a prison for the Aragonese queens, and a Spanish fortress. From the bastions, the view stretches across the entire seafront of Ortigia: it is spectacular at sunset.
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