RAGALNA
Ragalna
is a small town of about 2,600 at nearly 1,000 m height, surrounded
by luxuriant pine, oaks and walnut groves, on the slopes of Etna
Volcano. Only in 1985 it became an autonomous municipality. Up to
that date it was administratively annexed to the neighboring Paternò.
It
is a mainly farming town, due to its much fertile soil. Tourism
is also developed, the city recently being included in the Etna
Natural Park. Indeed, it offers breath-taking landscapes characterized
by a rich vegetation composed of olive, almond, pistachio, citrus
fruits, walnut, oaks, pines and the white-broom. The Serra La Neve
area, still in the Park, is worth-seeing.
Tourism
is notably fostered by traditional events, such as the city’
patron saint’s – Maria Santissima del Carmelo –
feast on the last Sunday of September.
THE
CITY
Ragalna
is a typical mountain town, featuring picturesque homes and farms.
Its major buildings are the Mother Church dedicated to the Madonna
del Carmelo, the church of Santa Barbara and that of San Giovanni
Bosco.
HISTORY
The earliest documented information
on Ragalna dates from the Norman age, referring to the donation
of Rechalena by the Count Enrico di Cagliostro, Lord of Paternò,
to the Monastery of San Leone, in 1136. Towards the end of the Middle
Ages, the town was ruled by the Moncadas, Princes of Paternò.
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