Page 405 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

Castello di Lombardia

Via Nino Savarese • Daily: April–Oct 8am–8pm; Nov–March 9am–5pm • Free

Despite numerous wars and attacks over the years, most of Enna’s medieval remains
are in good condition. Dominating the easternmost spur of town is the thirteenth-
century Castello di Lombardia, built by Frederick II who, according to some sources,
spent his summers here. There’s a huge area inside enclosed by the walls, split into
various courtyards, while six surviving towers (out of an original twenty) provide

lookouts. Climb the tallest, Torre Pisana, for some great views of Enna, the rugged
countryside in all directions, and across to Mount Etna.

Rocca di Cerere

Via Nino Savarese • Daily: April–Oct 8am–8pm; Nov–March 9am–5pm • Free

Up above Enna’s castle is the Rocca di Cerere, an exposed outcrop where some
scattered foundations are presumed to be the remnants of a temple erected by Gelon in
480 BC. Enna was the centre of the Greek cult of Demeter, the fertility goddess (her
Roman counterpart was Ceres, hence the rock’s name), and the most famous of the
myths associated with the goddess – the carrying off of her daughter, Persephone, to

the underworld – is supposed to have taken place just a few kilometres away, at Lago
di Pergusa.

LAGO DI PERGUSA

The Lago di Pergusa was the site of Hades’ abduction of Persephone to the
underworld. The story has it that Persephone, surrounded by nymphs, was gathering
flowers on the lush banks of the lake when Hades emerged from a chasm beneath the
water and spirited her away. Demeter searched in vain for her daughter, and her
grief at the loss of Persephone prevented the corn from growing. To settle the matter,
Zeus ruled that Persephone should spend half the year as queen of the underworld,