AGIRA
Agira is a city of archaeological
importance. It is located in the mid-valley of the Salso river at
about 600m asl near the Teja Mount. Here is one of its most attracting
buildings, a castle of Arab-Byzantine epoch, later restructured
by the Swabian. Far behind it, rises the Etna Volcano.
Founded by the ancient Sikels, it
first became a Greek colony, in 339 BC, then a Roman one. The latter,
notably, brought about an economic decline, the city being subjected
to heavy taxation.
Agira has numerous interesting buildings,
such as the mentioned castle, retaining two of its original towers,
and the Chiesa di San Filippo, a three-naves’ church with
a Roman basilica plan, containing paintings by Olivo Sozzi. Other
religious buildings deserve a mention. The Chiesa di Sant’Antonio
da Padova, on a basilical plan divided into three naves and containing
many attractive works of art, the Chiesa di Santa Margherita, the
biggest in the diocese, built in the early 1200s although undergoing
many changes throughout the centuries. The interior of the church
is ornamented with thirteen altars and numerous paintings among
which are The Four Evangelists and Our Lady of Sorrows by Olivo
Sozzi. There follow the Gothic Santissimo Salvatore and the Norman
Santa Maria Maggiore churches and several noble palazzi are also
worth-seeing.
Very interesting naturalistic sites
can be found in the city environs, such as the Pozzillo artificial
lake, amidst a beautiful eucalyptus wood, providing a critical habitat
for a great variety of birds and stopping point for migrators; the
Riserva di Piano della Corte, in the Erei Mountains; the Vallone
di Piano della Corte – that will soon become a Reserve –
renowned for its Mediterranean forest.
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Enna
Agira
Aidone
Assoro
Barrafranca
Calascibetta
Catenanuova
Centuripe
Cerami
Gagliano Castelferrato
Leonforte
Nicosia
Nissoria
Piazza Armerina
Pietraperzia
Regalbuto
Sperlinga
Troina
Valguarnera Caropepe
Villarosa
Monti
Erei
Morgantina
Pergusa
Villa Romana Del Casale
Testi
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