The Eyes of Milazzo

Symbol of vigilance and active guard, this is how at the end of the 1600s, Francesco Perdichizzi scrupulous keeper of memories from Milazzo, described them: "this I respect, that they want to mean, the big stone eyes placed on the facade of the castle, on the more exhibited walls, which concerns the north wind and the Greek". They are going to be seen in the same important way by the well-known author of the eighteenth-century city’s plan: “Los ojos de Melazo”. During the years that anthropomorphic drawing was altered, and they have been described and interpreted in the most diverse ways: from a simple decoration to a magical sign or astrological. The most reasonable explanation and more adherent to the state of the places and consequent to the location of the symbol on the last bulwark, the one that completed the defensive front, is that the more plausible meaning of the eyes is related to the safety supervision of the city, protected by its walls.

 

Terranova C.P. La città murata Dalla visita al "memorabile viaggio.", in Milazzo Nostra n. 28-29 - Marzo - Luglio 2011, pp. 23-24