Where a Marquise hid from justice in 1668

Etzu sits perched on a phonolitic hill in Cuglieri, offering a 360-degree view of the land. Ittocorre di Gallura erected the castle in 1186 to protect the borders of the kingdom from the Giudicato di Arborea. After the kingdom of Torres vanished and the Aragonese took control in 1410, the castle lost its defensive function and underwent several changes in ownership.

The castle is linked to the history of Francesca Zatrillas, the Marquise of Laconi. In 1668, she sought refuge in the castle to escape justice, as she was suspected of causing the death of her husband and participating in a plot to assassinate the viceroy Camarassa. Upon learning that a group of knights led by a commissioner was arriving in Oristano to pursue her, she fled into the mountains at night, taking shelter in the rural church of S. Lorenzo.

She eventually reached the cove of Foghe and boarded a boat to Livorno. While the fief was recovered by the Crown, the castle was abandoned in 1670. Today, the ruins of Casteddu Etzu consist of remains of towers, wall structures, and underground chambers that likely functioned as cisterns.

The castle had an elongated floor plan and enclosed a series of rooms within its walls. While traces of these rooms remain at the foundation level, their specific functions are unknown. It remains a place of historical intrigue, marking a site where a desperate escape unfolded centuries ago.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons