AGIRA, ENNA

Agira - This is one of the oldest towns in central Sicily and is spread over the slopes of Mt Teia, dominating the fertile Salso river valley.

In all directions are splendid views, sweeping from the mountains around the Caramitia plain to the silhouette of Mt Etna in the northwest. Its ancient foundation has been demonstrated by archaeological finds showing the presence of human settlements in the Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

The Siriano thaumaturgist Filippo arrived in Agira in the ist century AD and his name was given to the church with nave and two aisles built in the first decades of the 14th century, and altered in the late 18th century.

Tradition also attributes the patron saint Filippo with the foundation of the abbey, the present interior of which dates from 18th-century reconstruction work. Steps in the left aisle lead to the Cateva, the cave where the saint died and was buried. Other important religious buildings are the church of Sant'Antonio di Padova, erected in the first half of the 16th century and rebuilt after 1693, that of the Santissimo Salvatore, the original layout of which dates from the 12th century, and the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, dating from Norman times and with a nave and aisle inside.

On the top of the mountain, which must already have been fortified in Greek times, are traces of the old castle, probably a Swabian construction that had already been reduced to ruin in the 18th century.