CASSARO

Cassaro is a small town of the Siracusa province standing at 550m asl, nearby the Santo Stefano mount and the Anapo valley. It counts just over 1,000 inhabitants. The oil output represents a major income and the main industry of Cassaro.

Left abandoned at the time of the Sikels, the earliest settlement in the site of today’s Cassaro developed in the 12^th century around a fortification. The town’s castle, of which very little remains today, was probably built by the Arabs. Between the 16^th and 18^th century, it first became a Barony, then the Princedom of noble Gaetani family. The successive lords of the town were the Statellas. The town was heavily damaged by the 1693 earthquake, the works of reconstruction lasted many years.

The most attractive buildings include the 1600’s, then restructured, Chiesa Madre, dedicated to St. Peter, and the Chiesa di S. Antonio Abate, with a doorway flanked by niches containing the statues of Sant’Antonio Abate and the Madonna col Bambino and a painting of the titular saint.