PIETRAPERZIA
Pietraperzia is a small town located
at 476m a.s.l. in the Enna province. It has a charming medieval
look featuring yellow-ochre colored houses. From the ruins of its
Norman Castle extends a breath-taking view over the valley of the
river Salso. It has a population of some 12,000. Pottery remnants
discovered at the area seem to date back to an ancient neolithic
village.
The earliest documented records
date from the Roman, the Arab and, above all, the Norman dominations.
It were them who enlarged the castle which sits atop a calcareous
spur dominating the landscape. Frederick II granted Pietraperzia
to the Barresi family. The French actually ruled over it as far
as it was besieged by Frederick of Aragon army led by Manfredi Chiaramonte.
After Caltabellotta’s peace treaty, it first became a royal
dominion, then it was given back to the Barresis who held it as
far as the close of the 16th century. A remarkable urban growth
was recorded in the following centuries.
Pietraperzia has many interesting
buildings and monuments, mostly noble palazzi, such as the 1500’s
Palazzo del Governatore, the Neogothic Palazzo Tortorici and the
Palazzo Comunale, that is a former Dominican Convent. The town library
is as much attractive, with a rich collection of works, comprising
some thirty incunable editions and countless 1500’s, 1600’s
and 1700’s tomes ranging from the Goutenberg epoch through
1500’s.
Several religious buildings are
also worth-seeing. The Chiesa Madre, dedicated to St. Mary is the
most important of all. It contains various statues in the Gagini
style and a splendid canvas depicting The Enthroned Virgin and Saints
by Filippo Paladino.
Among the minor churches are the
Chiesa di San Nicolò – a former mosque converted during
the Norman rule – the Chiesa Caterva, preserving the relics
of San Felice and various stuccoworks, and the Parrocchia di Santa
Maria del Gesù with the adjacent Convento dei Frati Francescani.
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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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