Grammichele

In the Caltagirone area of the Iblei mountains, Grammichele was the feudal town of the Prince of Butera, which replaced the peasant village of Occhiolà destroyed by an earthquake in 1693. Its hexagonal geometric design was the work of the architect friar Michele da Feria, inspired by the radial urban layouts imagined (Sforzinda) or realised (Palmanova) from the Renaissance to the 17th century. The original drawing of the town plan, engraved on a slate slab, is preserved in the late 19th-century Municipal Building, overlooking the large central square, which is also hexagonal. The interesting feature of the visit is the urban layout.

The six residential quarters, developed along three radial streets that intersect at the centre of the square, took shape fairly quickly between the year of the earthquake and the first two decades of the 18th century. The construction of the Mother Church of Santa Michele Arcangelo, however, was not completed until the end of the 19th century, with its monumental tiered façade and terminal decoration, typical of Sicilian Baroque.