Enna

Enna

Background

The origins of the city of Enna are uncertain. A village, a temple and a necropolis dating back to the Neolithic period have been found around Lake Pergusa.

In the 11th century BC about, the Sican people settled on the hill. During the Greek domination the city was renamed “Henna”, the etymology of which still remains uncertain today. It probably comes from the Greek “en-naien”, meaning to live inside.

Renowned throughout the island for the cult dedicated to the Roman mother goddess of the earth Ceres, in 396 BC. Henna became a conquest of the Syracusans first, in 212 BC. of the Romans by Claudio Marcello then. The city established itself as a place of primary importance for the grain trade and was called Castrum Hennae. The Romans in fact took the name given by the Greeks, adding to it the term “fortress”.

After this period Henna became a thriving Byzantine center of strategic importance for defense against the Arabs. From the Normans, then renamed Castrogiovanni, it became a political and cultural center.

In the Aragonese period with Frederick III, Enna became the seat of the court thanks to its impregnable position. It is during this period that the Lombardy Castle and the Tower of Frederick II and the Cathedral were erected.

During the Sicilian Vespers the city played a crucial role even becoming a free municipality with republican institutions. Castrogiovanni imposed himself against the Bourbons by supporting Giuseppe Garibaldi.

In 1927 Benito Mussolini established Castrogiovanni as the provincial capital by detaching it from the Province of Caltanissetta. The city passed Caltagirone and Piazza Armerina in the order of preference, as these were linked to Sturzo and the popular party. Exalting ancient glories linked to its mythical classical past (the myth of Proserpina) at the end of the same year Mussolini restored the ancient name of Enna.