Piazza Armerina

▪ Italy

      town and episcopal see, central Sicily, Italy, west-southwest of Catania. Among the many historic monuments in the town are the 17th-century cathedral, with a 14th-century campanile, the Baroque palace of Trigona della Floresta, the Church of San Rocco (1613), the Civic Museum, the 14th-century four-sided castle, and the well-preserved remains of the Roman villa of Casale. The Norman count Roger (Roger I), associated with the foundation of the town in the 11th century, is said to have received from Pope Nicholas II the Byzantine statue “Madonna delle Vittorie” (Our Lady of Victories) that is in the cathedral and that is borne through the streets on the Feast of the Assumption. There are sulfur mines in the neighbourhood, and nougat is produced in the town. Pop. (2006 est.) mun., 20,768.

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