La Cuba

Frommer's Review

A less elaborate version of La Zisa , and not as well-preserved, "Cuba" is a Sicilian derivation of the Arabic Ka'aba, meaning "cube" or "square-shaped structure." It has nothing to do with the Caribbean island of the same name. Built in 1180 by King William II, it was a kind of summer palace with royal gardens where the court came to escape the heat. A tall building with a rectangular plan, it is another magnificent piece of Fatimid architecture. The interior of the original structure had a hall that rose the full height of the building and was covered by a dome.

Giovanni Boccaccio made La Cuba a setting in his tales of The Decameron. After it fell from royal use, it was privately owned, becoming a leper colony. When the Bourbons came to power, they turned it into a cavalry barracks. Today, La Cuba is part of a military barracks. Visitors can enter, but not photograph, the military grounds.

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