Founded in 1551 on a hill dominating the plane of Catania, Carlentini was thought by the Spanish viceroy Giovanni De Vega as shelter for the inhabitants of the ancient Lentini, submitted in those years to the incursions of Turkish, but also decimated from malaria caused by the nearness of Biviere.
Its name is after the emperor Charles 5th and its coming from Lentini.
As many other towns of Noto Valley, even Carlentini was almost completely destroyed by the earthquake in 1693.
It keeps, nevertheless, the chessboard map typical of the ancient Sicilian villages founded by the lords, common in other centres of the province of Siracusa (Floridia, Solarino, Priolo), organized on the longitudinal board of Cavour street and Diaz square.
The urban development in the last years led the town to improve its area and join Lentini.
Unusual the bell tower of the cathedral, dedicated to the “Immacolata” (St Mary), rebuilt a few years after the earthquake of 1693, 34 metres high.
“Archive A.P.T. Syracuse”
Leontinoi - Foto: L. Rubino
Chiesa Madre - Foto: A. Maiorca
