FLORIDIA

Floridia is a city of nearly 20,000 standing at 111m asl in the province of Siracusa. It began life as a hamlet in the early-1600s in the feudal dominion of the Duke Floridia Lucio Bonanno Colonna. Later, it became an administrative division of the neighboring Siracusa and gained city status in the early-1800s.

The major buildings in town are the 1700’s Chiesa Madre, with a fine baroque façade complete with a 1800’s three-sided clock, the 1700’s Chiesa di Sant’Anna, the 1700’s Chiesa del Carmine and the Chiesa della Madonna delle Grazie with, on the coat-of-arms in the main doorway, an incision claiming that the church was built by the Spanish to commemorate their victory over Austrians in the early-18^th century.

In the city surroundings are sites of naturalistic interest such as the Cava di Spampinato or Culatrello, hewn by the erosion of creeks. The site claims a historical value too, as it was here that Athenians sought a shelter from Syracusans in 413 BC and were furtherly crushingly defeated nearby the Assinaros river. The Villa-Museum in the Cozzu zu Cola district, displays working tools and objects related to the peasant’s daily life.