Brolo: the castle, the beach and the landing of 1943
Ten minutes east of Capo d'Orlando: a tenth-century castle on a spur of rock, a dark-sand beach sheltered from the north wind, and the night of 11 August 1943, when six hundred and fifty Americans landed here at three in the morning.
Written by the family of B&B del Corso, who live in Capo d'Orlando
Ten minutes east
Brolo lies east of Capo d'Orlando, barely a quarter of an hour along the coast. It's a small comune — just under six thousand people on 7.9 km², essentially at sea level — wedged between the Nebrodi and the Tyrrhenian and bordering Ficarra, Naso, Piraino and Sant'Angelo di Brolo. The name comes from the Latin Brolium, meaning garden, and for centuries the economy was exactly that: lemons and olives, until concrete and summer tourism arrived in the 1960s. The patron is Maria SS. Annunziata, celebrated on 25 March.
The castle on the spur
It's what you see from a distance: a medieval castle on a rocky promontory, sheer above the town and the sea. The structure dates to the tenth century; in Norman times the place was called Voab, “coastal fortress”. The tower rises through four levels and ends in a crenellated terrace; on the second floor is the reception hall, with the Lancia coat of arms and a balcony over the coast towards Messina. The curtain wall survives, along with two gateways, the courtyard turned garden and a hexagonal well which local tradition connects to escape tunnels running to the sea. Inside there are museum rooms on coastal fortifications and another, distinctly less reassuring, on medieval punishment.
Bianca Lancia: the story and the conditional
The castle is described everywhere as the home of Bianca Lancia, consort of the emperor Frederick II and mother of Manfred, King of Sicily. The sources don't agree: those who run the castle state it as fact, encyclopaedic sources use the conditional — “is said to have hosted”. We write it as we find it, because the difference between “she lived here” and “she may have lived here” is exactly the sort of detail guidebooks skip. That the castle belonged to the Lancia family is not in doubt, and the coat of arms in the hall says so. There is also a legend — Maria la Bella, the princess who waited for her lover arriving by sea, killed in ambush by her brother — which fishermen still tell, and which is a legend: don't ask it to be true.
The towers spoke to each other, and Brolo was a link
The castle of Brolo wasn't isolated. It belonged to the watch system running along this coast: from the Torre delle Ciavole at Gliaca to the Guardiola of Piraino, from there to Brolo and finally to the castle of Capo d'Orlando, on the sanctuary headland. Fire and smoke signals announcing pirate sails, hill after hill. It's the thread that ties together four places that look unconnected today, and it can be followed in a single day. The Guardiola and the Saracen Tower → · The castle of Capo d'Orlando →
The beach and the seafront
Brolo's beach is dark sand mixed with gravel, like most of this coast, with the seabed shelving gently near the shore: one reason families go there. It runs between the mouth of the Sant'Angelo di Brolo torrent to the east and the coast of Naso to the west, with free stretches and equipped ones, and behind it a tree-lined seafront with benches. Offshore stands the rock of Brolo, which is where you go with a mask: it's the one in the photograph above, filmed by us in February. Honest warning: as with us, there is no natural shade — either you rent a parasol or you bring your own. The beaches of this coast →
11 August 1943, at three in the morning
This is the story almost no visitor knows, and it happened on this beach. In August 1943, as the Americans pushed up the Tyrrhenian coast towards Messina, the command decided to outflank the German lines by sea. At 02:43 on 11 August a task force of about 650 men from the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Lyle A. Bernard, came ashore at Brolo against no opposition: by four o'clock all of them were on the beach with tanks, engineers and two artillery batteries, supported by the cruiser Philadelphia and six destroyers. The objective was Monte Cipolla, the hill of just over two hundred metres that commands the coastal road. The Germans discovered the landing around 03:45 and counterattacked all day with infantry and tanks: the battalion was cut off, short of ammunition, under fire coming from the town. The link-up with the main body of the 3rd Division came at 07:30 on 12 August. Those twenty-eight hours cost 177 men killed, wounded and missing, and the military result was partial: the Germans abandoned the Naso ridge a day earlier than planned, but still slipped away towards Messina.
Getting there, and in what order
By car it's barely a quarter of an hour from Capo d'Orlando along the SS 113, or a few minutes of motorway. The combination we'd suggest: a morning in the sea at Brolo — especially when the north wind is up and our own sea is rough — the castle in the afternoon as the heat drops, then up to Piraino, right above, for sunset from the Guardiola. A full day inside twenty kilometres. How to read the sea here →
Frequently asked questions
How far is Brolo from Capo d'Orlando?
About a quarter of an hour by car to the east, along the SS 113 or with a short stretch of motorway. They are neighbouring towns on the same coast, separated by the territory of Piraino and the hamlet of Gliaca.
What is there to see in Brolo?
The medieval castle on a rocky spur above the town, with its four-level tower, crenellated terrace, the hall bearing the Lancia coat of arms and museum rooms on coastal fortifications; the old centre with its medieval lanes and noble palaces; the beach and the tree-lined seafront.
What is the beach at Brolo like?
Dark sand mixed with gravel, with a seabed that shelves gently near the shore, which makes it easy with children. There are free stretches and equipped ones, a tree-lined seafront with benches and, offshore, the rock of Brolo. There is no natural shade.
Did Bianca Lancia really live in the castle of Brolo?
The sources disagree. The castle is described as the home of Bianca Lancia, consort of Frederick II and mother of Manfred, but encyclopaedic sources use the conditional while those who run the castle state it as fact. That the castle belonged to the Lancia family, on the other hand, is not in question: the coat of arms is in the hall.
What was the Brolo landing of 1943?
An American amphibious operation in the Sicilian campaign: at 02:43 on 11 August 1943 some 650 men of the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Lyle A. Bernard, landed on the beach at Brolo to outflank the German lines and take Monte Cipolla. They were cut off for a full day under counterattack, with 177 killed, wounded and missing, until the link-up with the 3rd Division on the morning of 12 August.
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Keep reading
Piraino: the Guardiola and the Saracen Tower
Twenty minutes of hairpins above Capo d'Orlando brings you to a white balcony hanging over the sea, with the coast from Capo d'Orlando to Milazzo in view and the Aeolians close enough to touch. Above it, an Arab tower from the 10th century.
The village of San Gregorio
A small square, a church, the fishermen's low houses facing the sea stacks. Until the mid-twentieth century you could only get here on foot — and in a house just across the water Gino Paoli wrote «Sapore di sale».
The best beaches in Capo d'Orlando
There is no «most beautiful one» — there's the right one for your day. Within two kilometres of coast the seabed, exposure and depth all change: here's which to choose for children, for snorkelling, for windy days and for sunset.
Related destinations: Capo d'Orlando, Nebrodi Park.
If you're looking for a bed around here
We're ten minutes further west.
In the centre of Capo d'Orlando, on the top floor, with the station a minute away: Brolo is a quarter of an hour by car, and in the evening you walk home from the corso.
Direct booking, no intermediaries · See the rooftop →
