Caltanissetta, capital of the province of the same name, seat of a bishop and largest town in the interior of Sicily, is distinguished by its beautiful setting overlooking the valley of the Salso at the foot of Monte San Giuliano (727m/2,385ft). It is a center for the mining of sulfur, potash and magnesium. The name of the town is derived from the Sican town of Nissa, on the site of which the Arabs built a fortress (qalat).
Communications
Caltanissetta lies at the point where the SS 122 from Enna joins the SS 640 from Agrigento. It is the end of the SS 191 from Gela and connects with the A 19 (Palermo-Catania, 9km/5.5mi). Railway station on the Catania-Palermo line.
Cultural events
Procession on Maundy Thursday with mystery-groups; Michaelmas Market (September 29th); folk festival (September).
This former Augustine canonical church, situated 3km/2 mi to the north, was founded in about 1086 by the Norman Count Roger I and his wife Adalasia after their victory over the Saracens. The date of its consecration is attested as being the year 1153 by virtue of an inscription which today has been lost. The church has just one large aisle with a sanctuary in three sections, the apses of which on the outside are divided by means of narrow lisenes.
The country town of Canicatti (23km/14mi southwest on the SS 640, then a left turning on to the SS 123, 5km/3mi; 32,000 inhabitants) lies 465m/1,526ft high in hilly countryside with extensive vine terraces. It probably dates back to Arab times. Apart from the Castello Bonanno there are several churches (San Diego, Chiesa del Purgatorio) which can be visited.
In the eastern part of Caltanissetta stands the Chiesa San Domenico with its 18th century curved Baroque facade, and inside paintings which include "Virgin of Mount Carmel" and "Madonna of the Rosary" by Filippo Paladino as well as "San Vincenzo Ferreri" by Guglielmo (Willelm) Borremans (Via S. Domenico).
At the end of the Via Angeli, in front of the rock on which the castle stands is the Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angeli, the Gothic doorway of which is a reminder that the church's origins are in the 14th century. The neighboring Jesuit college is today the premises of the municipal library. The rock is dominated by the Castello di Pietrarossa, which has its origins in an Arab fortress.
The Piazza Garibaldi in Caltanissetta is crossed in a north-south direction by the Corso Umberto. At its northern end are the town hall, and behind it the Palazzo Baronale Moncada (1625), a typically Sicilian Baroque building. At the end of the Corso, at the top of a flight of steps, stands the Jesuit Church of Sant'Agata (17th century)
On Monte Gibil-Gabel (2km/1mi to the south) stood the Sican town of Nissa, which dates back to the sixth century B.C. The Arabs established a cemetery on the site.
On this 706m/2,316ft mountain (6km/4mi to the northeast, SS 122) there is an archeological site with the remains of a Sican, later Greek town dating from the sixth-fourth centuries B.C., which has been excavated since 1962: huts and burial caves from the Sican period, massive town walls from Greek times. The finds can be seen in the Museo Civico in Caltanissetta.
To the west of the Piazza Garibaldi, in the Via Cavour, not far from the railroad station, is the Museo Civico with finds from the ancient sites of Sabucina and Monte Gibil-Gabel.
Address: Caltanissetta Museo Civico, Via Colajanni 3, I-93100 Caltanissetta, Italy
Not far away from the Museo Civico in Caltanissetta, in the Museo Folcloristico (Via Pisani 10), the figures of the mystery groups are stored for the great procession on Maundy Thursday.
Address: Museo Folcloristico, Via Pisani 10, I-93100 Caltanissetta, Italy
The central point of Caltanissetta is the Piazza Garibaldi, in which stands not only the Neptune fountain, but also the Cathedral (1570-1622) with its twin-towered façade and frescoes by the Fleming Guglielmo (Willelm) Borremans (1720). Opposite the Cathedral stands the Chiesa di San Sebastiano with its neo-Renaissance façade of 1891.
On the Monte San Giuliano (727m/2,385ft, 2km/1mi to the north of the Old Town of Caltanissetta; impressive view) traces have been found of a Bronze Age settlement. In 1900 a large statue of Christ was erected by E. Basile.
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Canicatti, Italy
