| Calatino | |
 | |
Location  | |
| State | Italy |
|---|---|
| Region | Sicily |
| Capital | Caltagirone |
Calatino is a tourist region of the Sicily.
To know
Geographical notes
Calatino is that part of the territory of the province of Catania that geographically falls within the area of central Sicily. The Calatino extends from the southern offshoots of the Erei mountains to the northwestern side of the Iblei mountains and also includes small portions of the Plain of Catania.
Spoken languages
In the territory a dialect of the Sicilian language of the central type is spoken, with evident Gallo-Italic substratum, due to the migrations of Lombard populations in eastern Sicily between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, as happened in the neighboring communities of Caltagirone (which has a Sicilian dialect with Ligurian substratum), Piazza Armerina (which has a real Gallo-Italic dialect) e San Michele di Ganzaria it's at Mirabella Imbaccari.
Territories and tourist destinations
Calatino: full screen map.Urban centers
- 1 Caltagirone (
) — 
The city is famous for the production of colorful ceramics and for its historic center with the beautiful staircase of Santa Maria del Monte. - 2 Castel of Iudica
- 3 Grammichele - City built according to a hexagonal urban planning.
- 4 Militello in Val di Catania — This city is part of the UNESCO Baroque cities of southeastern Sicily and has many churches and buildings of fine Baroque. The surrounding area is dotted with necropolis and places to explore.
- 5 Mineo - In addition to being the hometown of writers Luigi Capuana is Giuseppe Bonaviri, Mineo has several archaeological sites, including necropolis, ancient cities and castles.
- 6 Mirabella Imbaccari - Town along the route of the former Caltagirone-Dittaino railway, with Palazzo Biscari and the Museo del Tombolo, a rather ancient local tradition.
- Forget it
- 7 Vizzini - City whose name is deeply linked to that of the writer Giovanni Verga that here set the Rustic cavalry.
) — 
The city is famous for the production of colorful ceramics and for its historic center with the beautiful staircase of Santa Maria del Monte.Other destinations
Natural reserves
- 1 Bosco di Santo Pietro oriented nature reserve - Wooded area near the Santo Pietro village.
- 2 Sughereta di Niscemi nature reserve - This reserve protects the cork forest of the area near Niscemi but it also covers part of the Calatino territory.
Archaeological sites
- 3 Occhiola - Archaeological site of an ancient village destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, 2 km from Grammichele.
How to get
By plane
- Catania-Fontanarossa Airport - with domestic flights to all Italian cities, and flights to the main European destinations and various international locations.
- Comiso Airport - It mostly carries out seasonal, charter and low cost airlines flights to some Italian and European cities.
How to get around
What see
The Calatino area is full of abandoned castles such as Serravalle Castle is Mongialino Castle (both in the territory of Mineo), the latter has the particularity of being made up of a toroidal structure in the main tower, the only example in all of Sicily.
- 1 Dirillo Lake.
- 2 Paliké.
- 3 Caves of Caratabia. Sicilian graffiti from the 6th century BC This site represents a unicum, being the Sicilian traces mainly of tombs and few finds. However neglected it is undoubtedly an important testimony of the Sicilian past.
- 4 Monte San Mauro.
- 5 Cave of the Saints.
- 6 Mount Turcisi. Mountain with the remains of a fortress from the Greek era
- 7 Monte Iudica.
- 8 Bosco Granvilla (along the
). Wooded area located between the municipalities of Vizzini is Francofonte.
Itineraries
- Giro del Calatino - Assuming you are moving from Catania towards Caltagirone we will meet the following centers: Forget it, Militello in Val di Catania, Vizzini, Grammichele, Caltagirone is Mineo.
What to do
Of sure interest can be an excursion to Cascades of the Oxena set in a beautiful environmental context. The waters are fed on a permanent basis by the Ossena (or Oxena) river. But also the Quarry of Carcarone with several prehistoric cavities present along the high rocky walls of the canyon. Both in the territory of Militello in Val di Catania.
