Santa Maria di Licodia
Santa Maria di Licodia is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Catania, eastern Sicily, southern Italy.
History
Santa Maria di Licodia 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 BC, which absorbed or incorporated an already existing Sicel town named Inessa.Main sights
- Chiesa Madre. Of the original medieval building, a bell tower has remained
- Cherubim Fountain
- Casina del Cavaliere, a Benedictine convent of medieval origin, outside the town.
In the nearby district of Civita is a large elliptical area, enclosed by a wall of masses of lava, which is about wide at the base and 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.
Twin towns
- Rabat, Malta
- Pisano Eteno, a frazione of Zafferana Etnea, Italy
- San Giuseppe di Ognina, Catania, Italy