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VIZZINI
Last update 8/16/2023
A Roman city mentioned by Pliny and Cicero called Bidis stood here in an area that has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The modern town developed in the Middle Ages around a now non-extant castle, as a fief of various lords, including the Chiaromontes and the Schittinos, although for many years it was also part of the royal domain. In 1358, Roland of Sicily reconquered the area from Vizzini to Avola. In 1415, the Jewish community of Vizzini was expelled by Queen Blanca, and was never permitted to return.
During World War II, Vizzini was occupied by a small detachment of forces from Nazi Germany. On the 14th of July, 1943 the town was liberated from the Germans by the British military led by General Montgomery, consisting largely of M4 Sherman Tanks that easily overpowered the small group of German tanks that were present in the town.
The Arab layout of the town is evident when passing from Via Verga to Via San Gregorio Magno and proceeding as far as Largo della Matrice, a square with a modern statue of St Gregory in the middle and the Chiesa Madre (mother church) of San Gregorio Magno at one side.
The portal on the left flank of the church, in splendid 15th-century Gothic-Catalan style, probably derived from the old Town Hall, destroyed by the earthquake in 1693; in the interior there are late 18th century stuccos and a wooden ceiling by Natale Bonaiuto, as well as two paintings (The Martyrdom of St. Laurence and the Madonna delle Mercede) by Filippo Paladini (or Paladino), born in Florence about 1544. Another painting by Paladino, The Deposition (1607), is in the Chiesa del Convento dei Cappuccini.
