The only region in Sicily without a coast, the Central Sicily compensates for this lack with its six large natural and man-made lakes and beautiful mountain scenery. Its inland position has also made it less vulnerable to outside influences and change, and almost all the towns retain a medieval aspect, especially Calascibetta and Nicosia. Piazza Armerina is the second city of the province, famous for the mosaics at the Roman Villa and thus on the itinerary of many package tours. The town itself should not be neglected, as it wears its Norman and Aragonese traditions proudly, and in the middle of August hosts one of the major festivals in Sicily, the Norman Joust.
South of the capital Enna, the town of Pergusa borders on the famous lake – Lago di Pergusa. The attractive hill town across the valley is Calascibetta, its Arabic origins apparent in its old reddish buildings as well as in its name. It is a quiet, brooding place.
Further north and well in the mountains, beautiful Nicosia is as fine a medieval backwater as one could hope to find. As a free city, Nicosia prospered under the Arabs and then the Normans who settled the town with Lombard and Piedmontese colonists; the local argot is said to contain their northern influence.
West of Nicosia rise the picturesque ruins of the Castle of Sperlinga, the only safe refuge the French found in the War of the Vespers. From Nicosia to Troina, the road is very scenic. Troina itself qualifies as one of the highest towns in Sicily, 3,380 ft above sea level. Captured by Roger I in 1062 from the Arabs, Troina retains many Norman souvenirs, including the Church of San Basilio, founded by Roger himself in 1082, making it the first Norman diocese in Sicily.
Regalbuto to the east is only a few miles from the large artificial Lake Pozzillo, a favourite of anglers. In 1261 the inhabitants of Centuripe decimated Regalbuto, which had been populated largely by the hated Swabians. The present town was rebuilt by Manfred. To the east the old enemy Centuripe is magnificently situated in front of Mt Etna and the sea. Garibaldi nicknamed it the Balcone della Sicilia.
South of Enna is Piazza Armerina, known in Sicily simply as ‘Piazza’. Its excellent hill site was inhabited in antiquity, but only became more than passing important in the Middle Ages. The rectangular Piazza Garibaldi is the heart of the old town, with the Municipio, the Church (1613), various palazzi, and the ever helpful AAST information office (where you can get excellent detailed information about the Roman Villa). Turn west up Via Vittorio Emanuele for the baroque Church of Sant’ Anna and the 14th-century Aragonese Castle where King Martin I of Aragon once resided. At the summit of the city in the Piazza del Duomo is the Cathedral, built in 1627 with funds donated by Baron Marco Trigona, whose portly statue and palazzo also adorn the square.
To reach the excavations of the Villa Romana del Casale, generally called the Casale, four miles southwest of Piazza, you must either walk or take a taxi from the Piazza Gen. Cascino, as there is no bus. Unless there are many in your party, the taxi isn’t much of a bargain, but the walk is very pleasant if it is not too hot. But whatever the means, the journey rewards the visitor with the magnificent, uniquely well preserved mosaics. This is the best Roman site in Sicily and one of the most interesting in all of Italy.
Other important excavations northwest of Piazza Armerina are of Morgantina, a few miles from old Lombardian Aidone. Located at the Serra d’Orlando, the excavations include the large agora and trapezoidal stairway, a theatre, a gymnasium and Hellenistic houses, many with mosaics. Finds from Morgantina are at present housed in the Capuchin convent in Aidone.