Carini, Italy

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History

The area was inhabited as long ago as the Stone Age, as finds in the surrounding limestone caves testify. In historical times the site of the present-day town was occupied by the small Sican settlement of Hykkara, which belonged to the enemies of Segesta. As a result the Athenians, who were in league with Segesta, conquered it in 415 B.C. and sold off the inhabitants as slaves. Among them was the seven-year-old Lais, daughter of Timandra, the lover of the Athenian, Alcibiades. She came to Corinth, where she became one of its greatest hetairai, and then went on to Thessalia. Here she was murdered in Aphrodite's shrine by the other women, who envied her. She was buried on the Peneios.

Sights

On the cathedral square there stand two churches - the Baroque cathedral and the Chiesa di San Vito, in which a picture of San Vito dating from the 14th century is to be found. The castle is also 14th century and in its chapel there is a statue of the Madonna by Andrea Mancino.