The castle of Monreale was built around the twelfth or thirteenth century A.D., on the ruins of an ancient Nuragic settlement that was also occupied in the Punic and Byzantine age.

In Sardinia, it is the only one to have, in addition to a restored fortified tower, eight towers and all the surrounding walls, with a thickness of more than two meters and about one km length, which encloses the ruins of the entire old village.

It was an important stronghold of the Giudicato of Arborea, one of four independent kingdoms into which Sardinia was divided in medieval times, between the ninth and fifteenth centuries.

The Giudicato of Arborea was located on the border with the Giudicato of Cagliari and it was often visited by the Royal Court, whose members, including the Queen Eleanor of Arborea, used to spend periods of rest and care in the nearby spa.

Today, the old castle can be reached by taking a dirt road, with the final stretch recently paved.

On the hill, outside the castle walls, there was an old village around a church dedicated to St. Michael Archangel, recognized as the prince of “Celestial Militia”.

The soldiers were used to ask this Saint for help and protection.