RANDAZZO

'Randazzo' is a town of Sicily, Italy, in the province of Catania. It is situated at the Northern foot of Mount Etna, 70 km NW of Catania by rail.
It is the nearest town to the summit of Etna, and is one of the points from which the ascent may be made.

Contents

History

Main sights

Family name

History

Main sights

★ 'Cathedral of Santa Maria', originally built in the 13th century and several times rebuilt. The façade includes in the centre a bell tower with 4 floors, a reconstruction from the 19th century. The side portals are from the 15th-16th centuries, in Gothic-Catalan style. The right one, with ogival arches, has a little marble ''Madonna'' of Pisa school in the lunette.

★ The church of 'San Nicola' (14ht century). The façade is from the 17th century; the interior has a late-Gothic baptismal font. In the Treasury is a ''Procession Cross'' (1498) by Michele Gambino. In the square outside the church is a 'Statue of the Cyclops Piracmone'.

★ Church of 'San Martino'. It has a 17th century façade with a 12th century frieze with figures of saints. The campanile is from the 14th century. The Reinassance interior is divided into a nave and two aisles with Tuscan order columns: it housese a ''Madonna delle Grazie'' by Vincenzo Gagini.

★ 'Aragonese Gate'

★ 'Palazzo Lanza'

★ 'Palazzo Scala', a former Royal residence from the 12th century.

★ 'Palazzo Finocchiaro' (1509).

★ The 'Castello Svevo' ("Hohenstaufen Castle")

Family name

Randazzo is a popular Sicilian surname. Many Randazzos have come from Sicily (hailing from the city of Randazzo all the way to Palermo)