Santa Maria di Licodia

Santa Maria di Licodia (Zip Code 95038) is 189 Km. distant from Agrigento, 116 Km. from Caltanissetta, 28 Km. from Catania, which is the province it belongs to, 84 Km. from Enna, 124 Km. from Messina, 221 Km. from Palermo, 132 Km. from Ragusa, 86 Km. from Siracusa, 356 Km. from Trapani.

The municipality counts 7.143 inhabitants, its surface measures 2.623 hectares, and its population density counts 272 inhabitants per square kilometre. It rises over a hilly area, 443 meters above the sea-level.

The Town Hall is located in piazza Umberto I, tel. ++39 095-628080 fax. ++39 095-628040. E-mail address is: smlicod@cedss.it.

A prevalently agricultural center, Santa Maria di Licodia is outstanding for the production of wine grapes, olives, almonds, fruit, and citrus fruits, that can be tasted during the annual Sagra delle Arance e della Zagara (Orange Festival), held in the months of April and May. Sheep farms represent the main breeding activity.

The town's name derives from the Greek term Licodia, that means land full of wolves, and from the name of the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria (seat of the Town Hall); the town rose in the surroundings of the abbey erected in 1143 by Simone, count of Policastro, who bestowed it to Prior Geremia.

It belonged to the territory of Paternò until 1840, when it achieved its administrative autonomy.

Aside from the Benedictine Abbey, architecturally interesting are also the Chiesa Madre di Santa Maria and the Cherubino Fountain, with a typically baroque architecture.

In the surrounding areas there are many archeological remains of a Roman aqueduct, once used to carry water to Catania.