Santa Maria di Licodia

Infobox CityIT
img_coa = Santa Maria di Licodia-Stemma.png

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|image_caption=Tower of Palazzo Bruno
img_coa_small = yes
official_name = Comune di Santa Maria di Licodia
region = Sicily
province = Catania (CT)
elevation_m = 442
area_total_km2 = 26
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 6745
population_density_km2 =259
timezone = CET, UTC+1
coordinates = coord|37|37|N|14|54|E|region:IT_type:city(6745)
frazioni = Schettino
telephone = 095
postalcode = 95038
gentilic = Licodiesi or Licodesi
saint = St. Joseph
day = Last Sunday in August
mayor =Salvatore Rasà
website = [http://www.comune.santamariadilicodia.ct-egov.it/ 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.

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.

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.

Twin towns

*flagicon|Malta Rabat, Malta
*flagicon|ITA Pisano Eteno, a "frazione" of Zafferana Etnea, Italy
*flagicon|ITA San Giuseppe di Ognina, Catania, Italy

References