San Giovanni la Punta

San Giovanni la Punta (Zip Code 95037) is 202 Km. distant from Agrigento, 136 Km. from Caltanissetta, 10 Km. from Catania, which is the province it belongs to, 107 Km. from Enna, 94 Km. from Messina, 259 Km. from Palermo, 114 Km. from Ragusa, 68 Km. from Siracusa, 358 Km. from Trapani.

Copyright © Prof. Musmeci Gaetano

The municipality counts 20.083 inhabitants, its surface measures 1.063 hectares, and its population density counts 1889 inhabitants per square kilometre. It rises over a coastal hilly area, 347 meters above the sea-level.

The Town Hall is located in piazza Europa, tel. ++39 095-7410130 fax. ++39 095-7410717, toll free number 800289262 (only for italian residence). E-mail address is: info@sglapunta.it.

A prevalently agricultural town, San Giovanni La Punta boats a conspicuous production of cereals, olives, citrus fruits, grapes, and fruit. The Antique Trade Fair is characteristic, held in the months of July, August, and October.

The town was named San Giovanni in honor of the its homonymous patron saint. The appositive "La Punta" (that means point, tip) was added subsequently because a part of its territory has a point shape formed by the lava flow.

The suburb belonged to Catania's municipality for a long time. In 1646, it passed under the dominion of the Massa family, dukes of Aci Castello, who possessed it until the abolition of the feudal rights.

Copyright © Prof. Musmeci Gaetano

The most interesting monuments, architecturally, are the Dome, dedicated to S. Giovanni Battista, preserving a baroque facade, the numerous and marvelous small palaces built in 1800, and the Castello Carcaci, once residence of the Paternò princes.

The town's noteworthy citizens were the famous volcanologist Giuseppe Recupero (1720-1778), author of a book entitled "Storia naturale e generale dell'Etna" (Etna's natural and general history) and notorious professor at the University of Catania, and the expert linguist Gabriele Allegra (1907-1976), who was the first to translate the Holy Bible in Chinese, and was author of a Chinese Biblical Dictionary.