Lentini

Lentini
Comune
Comune di Lentini
Coat of arms
Lentini Location of Lentini in Italy
Coordinates: 37°17′N 15°00′E / 37.283°N 15.000°E / 37.283; 15.000
Country	Italy
Region	Sicily
Province / Metropolitan city	Syracuse (SR)
Government
• Mayor	Alfio Mangiameli (PD)
Area
• Total	215.75 km2 (83.30 sq mi)
Elevation	53 m (174 ft)
Population (February 2015)
• Total	24,250
• Density	110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Lentinesi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	96016
Dialing code	095
Patron saint	Sant'Alfio
Saint day	May 10
Website	Official website

Mother Church.

Lentini (Sicilian: Lintini), historically Leontini or Leontinoi (Ancient Greek: Λεοντῖνοι), is a town and comune in the Province of Syracuse, South East of Sicily (Southern Italy).

History

The city was originally founded by colonists from Naxos as Leontini in 729 BC,^[1] which in its beginnings was a Chalcidian colony established five years earlier.

It is virtually the only Greek settlement in Sicily that is not located on the coast, founded around 6 miles inland. The site, originally held by the Sicels, was seized by the Greeks owing to their command on the fertile plain in the north. The city was reduced to subject status in 494 BC by Hippocrates of Gela,^[2] who made his ally Aenesidemus its tyrant.^[3] In 476 BC, Hieron of Syracuse moved the inhabitants from Catana and Naxos to Leontini.^[2]

Later on, the city of Leontini regained its independence.^[2] However, as a part of the inhabitants efforts to retain their independence, they invoked more than once the interventions of Athens. It was mainly the eloquence of Gorgias of Leontini which led to the abortive Athenian expedition of 427 BC.^[2]

In 422 BC, the Greek city-state of Syracuse supported the oligarchs against the people and received them as citizens, Leontini itself being forsaken. This led to a renewed Athenian intervention. Initially as a diplomatic one, the exiles of Leontini joined the envoys of Segesta in persuading Athens to undertake the great Sicilian Expedition of 415 BC.

After the failure of the Expedition, Leontini became subject to Syracuse once more.^[4] The city's independence was guaranteed by the treaty of 405 BC between Dionysius and the Carthaginians, but it was soon lost again. The city was finally stormed by Marcus Claudius Marcellus in 214 BC.

In Roman times it seems to have been of small importance.^[2] It was destroyed by the Saracens in 847 AD,^[2] and almost completely ruined by the earthquake of 1693.^[2] Until the middle of the 20th century, Lentini was regarded by travellers as a malarial stopover to Syracuse of minor historical importance.^[5]

The ancient city is described by Polybius as lying in a valley between two hills, and facing north.^[4] On the western side of this valley there was a river flowing with a row of houses on its western bank below the hill. At each end was a gate, the northern gate leading to the plain, the southern, at the upper end, leading to Syracuse. On each side of the valley there was an acropolis, lying between precipitous hills with flat tops, over which buildings extended. The eastern hill still has the remains of a strongly fortified medieval castle, in which some writers are inclined (though wrongly) to recognize portions of the Greek masonry.

Excavations were made in 1899 in one of the ravines in a Sicel necropolis of the third period; explorations in the various Greek cemeteries resulted in the discovery of some fine bronzes, notably a lebes.

Attractions

Lentini's prime monuments include:

• The Baroque Chiesa madre Santa Maria la Cava e Sant'Alfio ("Mother Church of St. Mary of the Pit and St. Alphius"), built in 1693 by Vella da Malta. It has a basilica plan with a nave and two aisles; the three-order façade is from the 18th century. Something noteworthy is the central portal with scenes of the martyrdoms of St. Alfio, Filadelphus and Cirinus. The interior holds a Byzantine icon from the 12th century.^[6]
• The Chiesa of Santissima Trinità e San Marziano ("Church of the Holy Trinity and St. Marcian"), which was built over the ruins of the 16th century Palazzo La Palumba. It has a noteworthy pavement in ceramics of Caltagirone (18th century) and a polyptych of Antonello da Messina's school. The high altar tabernacle is made of lapislazuli.^[6]
• The Chiesa dell'Immacolata ("Church of the Immaculate") from the 17th century. Inside there are a Romanesque lion sculpture, a Christ at the Column and the tombstone of Queen Mary (1402).^[6]
• The Chiesa di S.Luca ("Church of St. Luke"). It has a notable painting of Saint Francis of Assisi, speaking by Jacopo Bassano and other artworks. Next to the church are the remains of the Castle of Frederick II, the hypogeum of St. Lucy with 14th-century frescoes, the Crucifix Grottoes with frescoes from the 12th-17th centuries and the ruins of the old parish church of St. Peter (16th century).^[6]
• The 18th-century church of San Francesco di Paola, with a rare organ and artworks from churches which were destroyed by the 1693 earthquake.^[6]

Economy

Lentini's economy is mainly based on agriculture, and less remarkably on woodcraft and handicraft production.

Notable Lentinesi

• Gorgias, Pre-Socratic philosopher (c. 485 – c. 380 BCE).
• Giacomo da Lentini, thirteenth-century poet and reputed inventor of the sonnet.
• Filadelfo Mugnos (1607–1675), man of letters and author of the Teatro genealogico delle famiglie nobili siciliane, titolate, feudatarie ed antiche del fedelissimo regno di Sicilia viventi ed estinte.

See also

• A.S.D. Sicula Leonzio, football club located in Lentini
• Blood orange, speciality of Lentini

Notes and references

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Leontini". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Further reading

• Valenti, Francesco (2007). Leontinoi. Storia della città dalla preistoria alla fine dell'impero romano (in Italian). Palermo: Publisicula. 

External links

• (Italian) Official website