The Castello di Maniace is situated on the left bank of the River Saraceno on the site of the former Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria of Maniace, built in 1174 by the NormanWilliam II of Sicily ("The Good"), King of Sicily from 1166 to 1189 (seated at Palermo) and husband of Princess Joan of England (1165–1199), a daughter of King Henry II (1154–1189) of England. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Santa Maria), by the express wish of his mother Queen Margaret of Navarre, in memory of the great Battle of Maniace in 1040, won near the site by Giorgio Maniace against the Arabs.
Castello di Maniace in 1885, showing the old bridge over the River Saraceno, built by one of the dukes, on which tolls were levied from crossing trafficCeltic cross monument to Admiral Lord Nelson, with contadini (peasant farmers), Castello di Maniace, erected in 1891 by the 5th Duke, whose close friend and frequent visitor was the "Celtic" poet William Sharp (d.1905), buried in the ducal cemetery. Photo published 1903
