The Vicereale Tower of Cetara dates back to the 16th century and has a very articulated structure, the result of an integration between a cylindrical Angevin tower and a double-height viceroy. The reasons that led to the construction of the Tower, a veritable sentinel of Cetara, were twofold: on the one hand the fear of pirate raids, on the other the outbreak of the Vespers war, which took place between 1282 and 1302 in Sicily, from where vessels departed loaded with armed men that threatened the centers of the Coastal Amalfitana, putting in danger the commercial exchanges.
Over time, however, the Tower took on various functions: it was also used as a prison following the Barons’ Conspiracy of 1460, which involved Antonello De Petruciis from Aversa and Antonello S. Severino, Prince of Salerno, who plotted against King Ferdinand I D ‘Aragon. It was precisely in the Tower of Cetara that Don Federico, the king’s son, was imprisoned, who had refused to agree with the conspirators.