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Visit San Cataldo
San Cataldo is a town situated on a hill in northern Sicily. Although it arose in an area of ancient settlement, as evidenced by archaeological remains found in the area, it is not an ancient city, and the town we visit today dates largely from the early 17th century.
Chiesa Madre: The city's Old Town is most noteworthy for its fine religious buildings, including the Mother Church, the construction of which dates back to 1633. The building was commissioned by Marquise Vincenzo Galletti, who built it close to his Castle, on the highest point of the hill and in front of the city's most populous district.
Variously restored over the centuries, it was re-designed by Giovan Battista Vaccarini (1702-1768). The façade recalls the style of Francesco Borromini (1599-1667), while the interior has three naves divided by columns topped by a cupola. The artistic glory of the church lies in the presence of some artifacts of great artistic value, among which are an ivory crucifix, a statue of San Cataldo, and several paintings depicting the “SS. Heart of Jesus” and “The Nativity of Our Lady”, by the local painter Carmelo Riggi (18th century).
Next on your tour of San Cataldo, visit the Church of St. Nicholas, built by Nicholas Galletti. The Church has a single nave and inside there are some fine stucco works. Surely one of the most interesting in the town is one of the “Mercedari” Fathers, which is enhanced by the presence of a statue of the Madonna, an impressive work by Girolamo Bagnasco (1759-1832). The Rosary Church, dating to the early 18th century, holds a statue of “San Francesco di Paola”, by Girolamo Bagnasco and the “Penitent Mary” by Carmelo Riggi.
Other artifacts in San Cataldo are the Capuchin Monastery, once home to a rich library of valuable manuscripts, which were unfortunately largely missing; and the "palace-castle" of the Galletti Princes, dating back to the eighteenth century.
San Cataldo castle and towers: little is known about the original castle of the Galletti although we know that it was situated on a hill called the “Quartiere Forca” [Gallows District]. In the early 18th century Prince Giuseppe Galletti built a second palace-castle, with a octagonal square, but the building remained unfinished, and was then later completed in the neo-Gothic style. Also worthy of mention are the two towers, constructed by King Philip III (1578-1621), to defend the city. One of them is located on "Mount Taborra". In the eighteenth century a clock with four dials in marble was also installed in it. The other tower, next to the church of "Ss.mo Rosary", dates from the early 19th century.
Vassallaggi
In addition to visiting the religious and civic buildings in San Cataldo, a point of great interest is the archaeological site of “Vassallaggi”, on a rocky hill. The excavations have identified a prehistoric stage, dating back to the Bronze Age, with evidence of a settlement, a proto-stage, evidences by indigenous pottery and chamber tombs and also a Hellenizing phase, dating back to the sixth century BC. The first inhabitants of “Vassallaggi” were the so-called "Sicanians", of the Early Bronze Age, known for their red ceramics, then later replaced by the "Sicules", a people of Indo-European origin.
The archaeological remains were taken from a cemetery with graves accompanied by some Greek red-figure craters, together with other objects of various uses such as knives and other articles intended for the "toilet" and a sarcophagus of white ceramic. From a historical point of view it is very interesting to note that the site of “Vassallaggi” has been identified by some scholars as the ancient city of “Motyon”, mentioned in a fragment of Diodorus Siculus [90-27 BC] (XI, 9)*
*Historical note: Diodorus Siculus wrote that Deucetius (488-440 BC), chief of the “Sicules”, increasingly ventured far northwest, to win ‘Motyon, a territory of Agrigento'. However, the identification with Vassallaggi is uncertain.
Exploring around San Cataldo
The region around San Cataldo is also recommended for the wooded landscape and some areas of natural interest such as those of Mimiani, Gabbara and Mustigarufi. Today the land has also been variously strewn with small restaurants that offer tourists a variety of very tasty traditional dishes such as the black pig, cheeses, mozzarella, ricotta cheese, hash house, fritters, vegetable pie, followed by grilled black pork, roast pig stuffed and roll “alla siciliana” with vegetables.
See also San Cataldo history and etymology.
See the the Sicily travel guide for more places to visit in the same region as San Cataldo.