Santa Maria di Licodia
# Santa Maria di Licodia

Santa Maria di Licodia (Sicilian: Santa Marìa di Licuddìa ) is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Catania, eastern Sicily, southern Italy.

## History

Santa Maria di Licodia occupies traditionally the site of the ancient Aetna, a settlement founded by the colonists whom Hiero I of Syracuse had placed at Catania after their expulsion by the original inhabitants in 461 BC, which absorbed or incorporated an already existing Sicel town named Inessa.

## Main sights

* Chiesa Madre (Mother Church). Of the original medieval building, a bell tower has remained
* Cherubim Fountain (1757)
* Casina del Cavaliere, a Benedictine convent of medieval origin, outside the town.

A large hoard of coins was found also outside Santa Maria di Licodia in 1891.

In the nearby district of Civita is a large elliptical area, enclosed by a wall of masses of lava, which is about 8.5 metres (28 ft) wide at the base and 3 metres (10 ft) high. The ground is covered with fragments of tiles and pottery of the classical period, and it is probably a hastily built encampment of historic times rather than a primitive fortification, as there are no prehistoric traces.

## Twin towns

* Rabat, Malta
* Pisano Eteno, a frazione of Zafferana Etnea, Italy
* San Giuseppe di Ognina, Catania, Italy
