Catenanuova
Welcome to Catenanuova: the sun-kissed Sicilian Municipality
Hello everyone! Today we will talk about Catenanuova, an Italian Municipality located in the beautiful island of Sicily, overlooking the Dittaino valley famous for its wheat fields. The city has 4493 inhabitants and is located 38 km east of Enna and 35 km west of Catania.
Physical Geography
Territory
The city is located in an excellent geographical position, along the railway line and the A19 motorway (Italy), which connects Palermo to Catania. Thanks to its location, it is easy to reach nearby tourist cities in Sicily such as Taormina, Syracuse, Agrigento, and the Valley of the Temples.
Climate
The climate of Catenanuova is characterized by Mediterranean temperatures, with mild winters and hot summers. If you are looking for warmth and sunshine in summer, this is the ideal place. In this location, during the intense and prolonged heatwave of August 1999, a temperature of 48.5 °C was recorded, a real record for Europe. This record was maintained for over twenty years until August 11, 2021, when +48.8 °C was recorded in Floridia, in the province of Syracuse.
History
The city of Catenanuova was founded between 1727 and 1733 by Prince Andrea Giuseppe Riggio-Statella, at the request of his mother who, widowed, in her will drawn up on July 21, 1713, asked her son and universal heir to found a new city "''…in which in the future in her fegho of Melinventre the Earth would be fabricated and the Arcipretato founded…''". Andrea Riggio took over the Melinventre feud on March 8, 1722, but waited about a decade before fulfilling his mother's wishes.
Catenanuova was founded in the Melinventre feud and named after Aci Catena, in the province of Catania, like the founder's family. In fact, in Sicilian, Aci Catena is still called ''a Catina'' and the city of Catenanuova was initially called ''Terra della Nuova Catena'' and then ''Catena la Nuova''.
The coat of arms of Catenanuova combines the four crests of the founder's paternal and maternal families, Riggio-Saladino and Statella-Paternò (family).
Catenanuova grew rapidly, thanks to the construction of wide and regular streets and the foundation of the Arcipretato of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The palace of Prince Andrea Riggio, which also served as the town hall, was erected in front of the church.
Dear friends, I hope that this brief historical overview has made you appreciate even more the beauty of Catenanuova and its millennial history. Come and discover its treasures!
