Emperor Frederick II, King of Sicily, built Castello Ursino from 1239 to 1250 as a royal castle. It was meant to assert royal power and defend the capital, and it was considered impregnable at the time. The plan is rectangular, with a large circular tower at each corner and an open-air inner court. The article names no architect or style.
The Parliament met here in 1295 and replaced James II with Frederick III. After the capital moved and gunpowder weapons appeared, it served as a prison. It survived the 1693 earthquake. Lava from a 17th-century eruption of Mount Etna filled the former moat. The article says volcanic eruptions and earthquakes shifted the site about a kilometer inland from its original clifftop.
The city of Catania acquired it in 1932, and the Museo Civico opened in 1934.
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