[1] It is one of the few examples of High Middle Ages architecture in Calabria, as well as one of the few well-preserved Byzantine fortifications in the world.

The castle is a Byzantine building built in the early 11th century on a hill in Motta San Giovanni.

In the 13th century the castle became the command center of the flourishing fief of Sant'Aniceto (which included Motta San Giovanni and Montebello).

The castle has an irregular plan, which reminds that of a ship with the bow directed towards the mountains and the aft to the sea.

At the feet of the short steep path leading to the plain below is a small church, which has a frescoed dome portraying the Christ Pantokrator, a typical subject[according to whom?]