SAN
MICHELE DI GANZARIA
San
Michele is a city 490 m a.s.l. in the area of the Mount Ganzaria,
overlooking the southern Iblean Mountains. It totals some 4,800
inhabitants.
THE
CITY
The Mother Church – The 1200’s
Chiesa Madre, dedicated to the patron Saint Michael, is the main
religious building in town. Its façade, in the Gothic-Cistercian
style, is graced with two battlemented towers. The interior, divided
into three naves, contains a marble statue of the Gagini school
depicting the titular saint, a 1600’s baptismal font and a
fine wooden Crucifix.
The 1500’s Church of the Holy
Rosary – The 1500’s Chiesa del Rosario or of Sant’Antonio,
has a simple design with a single nave, a fine marble major altar
and interesting 1700’s stuccoes and frescoes.
Minor monuments and city surroundings
– Among the city’s minor monuments are the remnants
of the Castello Ducale – consisting of sections of the outer
walls, of a balcony and battlement – and the 1800’s
fountain on Via Garibaldi.
In
the surrounding area are sites of naturalistic and environmental
interest such as the Mount Garganzia, home to richest vegetation
and wildlife composed of cork-oaks, eucalyptus, walnut-groves, dwarf
fan palms and orchids, foxes, porcupines and weasels.
HISTORY
The city was founded in 1534 when
the Baron Antonio Gravina granted these lands to a colony of Greek-Albanian
exiles.
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