About
A primitive, but ingenious air-conditioning system was built into this Arabesque Italian castle.
The Normans came to Sicily as mercenaries, but quickly adapted to the local Arabic culture to the point that they even began aping their architectural style as in the case of the La Zisa palace. King Guglielmo I earned the epithet “Il Malo” (“The bad one”) for being, according to his detractors, more interested in wine, harems, and luxury than politics. Around 1165 the king financed the construction of the summer residence of his court: the castle of the Zisa (from the arabic term “al-aziza,” roughly translated as “the gorgeous”). The design is entirely in Islamic-style architecture, featuring ogival archways, muqarnas, vaulted niches, and even a perfectly functional air conditioning system. The architect who designed the building used many devices to create a comfortable place to relax during the scorching heat of Sicily’s summer. The castle faces north-east, so that the ample fornices in the first level could capture the temperate winds coming from the sea, and a large pool in front of the building, connected directly to the main hall’s
