The Spanish Quarter (Italian: Quartiere spagnolo) is a former barracks in Erice, Sicily. Originally constructed to house soldiers under Spanish rule, it now serves as an exhibition space with permanent displays on the town's maritime history and traditional crafts.[1]
Construction of the barracks began in the first half of the 17th century. At that time the Crown enforced the obligation of posata, which required towns to provide free food and lodging for members of Spanish garrisons.[2]
To avoid billeting soldiers within the inhabited centre, the citizens of Erice levied a tax upon themselves to finance the construction of a barracks. It was built on a rocky plateau in the northernmost part of the city, near the Church of Sant'Antonio Abate, overlooking the coastline towards Monte Cofano.[1] Archaeological finds on the terrace in front of the building, including votive deposits with terracotta lamps, suggest that the site was associated in pre-Christian times with the cult of Venus Erycina.[3]
Work was halted in 1632, and the Spanish troops were instead quartered in the Castle of Venus.[1]
Restoration
The Spanish Quarter remained abandoned until the early 21st century. The building was structurally restored around 2005.[1] In the following decade the site was assigned to local cultural associations with support from European funding, which enabled its reuse for museum displays and cultural events.[4] It is now used as an exhibition space for parts of the ethnographic and anthropological collections of the Cordici Museum.[5]
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