This mountain village lies at a height of 560m/1,837ft, not far from the north coast, and owes its importance to the monastery of San Filippo di Fragalà with its church consecrated to Saint Philip.
Founded as long ago as the fifth century, the monastery in Frazzanó was always highly regarded and survived even the destruction meted out to it by the Arabs in the ninth century. The reconstruction, which was undertaken immediately after the Norman conquest of Sicily, was concluded in 1090 under the abbot Gregory. The church dates from this year; it has the outline of a T-shaped Anthony cross with three projecting apses facing east.
Despite alterations in the 15th, 17th and 18th centuries, when the lantern and bell towers were built, the original character of this Basilian church (designed for Greek Orthodox monks) is still easily recognizable. Besides the outline of the apses, the windows, a doorway on the north side, several arches and the barrel vaulting over the side aisles have all been preserved. The polychromy evident in the building is also Basilian: it derives from the use of black lava, red brick and yellow-pink stone on the otherwise unadorned exterior.
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