VIZZINI, Catania, Sicilia

Bidis, a Roman city mentioned by Pliny and Cicero, stood here in a territory that has been inhabited since prehistoric times.

The modern town developed in the Middle Ages around a now non-extant castle, as a fief of various lords, including the Chiaromontes and the Schittinos, although for many years it was also part of the royal domain.

The writer Giovanni Verga used Vizzini as the setting for his "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Mastro Don Gesualdo", describing places and scenes that are still recognizable (the prickly pears of Cunziria, and in a sloping alley the house of the Trao family)

Numerous religions and civil buildings are historically and artistically interesting in Piazza Umberto I the Palazzo di Citta (early 19C) and the 18C palazzo of the Verga family.

Nearby is the Chiesa di Sant'Agata, rebuilt in the 18C on the site of a previous 15C building.

The Arab layout of the town is clearly seen when we pass from Via Verga to Via San Gregorio Magno and proceed as far as Largo della Matrice, a square with a statue of St. Gregory in the middle and the Chiesa Madre at one side.

The portal on the left face of the church, in splendid 15C Gothic-Catalan style, probably came from the old Town Hall, destroyed by the earthquake in 1693; in the interior there are late 18th C stuccos and a wooden ceiling by Natale Bonaiuto, as well as two paintings (The Martyrdom of St. Laurence and the Madonna delle Mercede) by a painter who has been rediscovered and re-evaluated - Filippo Paladini (or Paladino), born in Florence about 1544, who left in the churches of Sicily numerous testimonies of his artistic skill. Another painting by Paladino, The Deposition, (1607) is in the Chiesa del Convento dei Cappuccini.

Let us also pay our respects to a local architect, Giovan Battista Giarusso, who initiated in 1712 the building of the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista (the name of the church is a curious coincidence), completed many years later with the cupola and the facade. The stuccos decorating the interior are by Bonaiuto (also mentioned with reference to the Chiesa Madre).

The ubiquitous (and skillful) Antonello Gagnini is present in the Chiesa dei Minori Osservanti, with a fine statue of the Madonna and Child (1527)

excerpted from "Sicily and Its Islands"

Comune: Vizzini
Provincia: Catania
Name for Locals: Vizzinesi
Population: 8645 (as at 2002)
Patron Saint of the Comune: San Gregorio Magno
Date Celebrating the Patron Saint:12th March
Post Code (Codice postale CAP.): 95049
Phone Code: 0933
Central Telephone Number of the Municipio Office: 0933/962445-962140-962120
Fax the Municipio Office: 961260
E-mail del Comune.: None Available :(
Nearest Station: Vizzini – Licodia (6 km)
Address of the local Tourist Office: Via Lombarda, 9
Telefono of the local Tourist Office: 965905
Location: 60 km from Catania in the Hyblaean Mountains, on the most northwesterly slopes of Monte Lauro.
Economy: agricultural (cereals, prickly pears, vegetables, sumac), handmade shoes, carpentry.
Latitude:37.1667
Longitude:14.7500
Altitude (feet):1699
Latitude (DMS):37° 10' 0N
Longitude (DMS):14° 45' 0E
Altitude (meters):517

Vizzini Genealogy