Santa Maria di Licodia

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Comune di Santa Maria di Licodia
Tower of Palazzo Bruno
Tower of Palazzo Bruno
Coat of arms of Comune di Santa Maria di Licodia
Municipal coat of arms
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Region Sicily
Province Catania (CT)
Mayor Salvatore Rasà
Elevation 442 m (1,450 ft)
Area 26 km² (10 sq mi)
Population (as of 2001)
 - Total 6,745
 - Density 259/km² (671/sq mi)
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates 37°37′N, 14°54′E
Gentilic Licodiesi or Licodesi
Dialing code 095
Postal code 95038
Frazioni Schettino
Patron St. Joseph
 - Day Last Sunday in August
Website: www.comune.santamariadilicodia.ct-egov.it

Santa Maria di Licodia is a town and comune in eastern Sicily, in the province of Catania, southern Italy.

Contents

[edit] History

Santa Maria di Lodia occupies traditionally the site of the ancient Aetna, a settlement founded by the colonists whom Hiero I of Syracuse had placed at Catania after their expulsion by the original inhabitants in 461 BCE, which absorbed or incorporated an already existing Sicel town named Inessa.

[edit] Main sights

  • Chiesa Madre (Mother Church). Of the original medieval building, a bell tower has remained
  • Cherubim Fountain (1757)
  • CAsina del Cavaliere, a Benedictine convent of medieval orign, outside the town.

A large hoard of coins was found also outside Santa Maria di Licodia in 1891.

In the nearby district of Civita is a large elliptical area, enclosed by a wall of masses of lava, which is about 8.5 m wide at the base, and 3 m high. The ground is covered with fragments of tiles and pottery of the classical period, and it is probably a hastily built encampment of historic times rather than a primitive fortification, as there are no prehistoric traces.

[edit] Twin towns

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.