In the early twentieth century the archaeologist Paolo Orsi uncovered, on the hills above the Maroglio river valley, the remains of Monte San Mauro — first a native settlement, then a Greek one, and the most thoroughly documented archaeological site in the whole territory of Caltagirone. Among the buildings he brought to light was an anaktoron, and the site has long been identified with Euboia, a subcolony of Leontinoi.
What to see
The core of the site is the settlement spread across the heights facing the Maroglio, where excavations revealed a residential area, a cult space and a necropolis. Among the ruined buildings stands an anaktoron — the term for a monumental, palace-like building. The position was deliberate: from here one controlled the valley of the Maroglio, the river that runs down toward the Gulf of Gela, and the settlement belonged to the network of Chalcidian centres scattered across the Sicilian interior. The finds speak of a community trading with several Greek-Sicilian cities — nearby Gela, but also Selinunte and Syracuse.
Visiting
Monte San Mauro is above all a place to read. Colonists of mixed origin, living under Chalcidian law, most likely established themselves here: they moved into pre-existing Sicel villages, perhaps sharing them with the inhabitants, or founded a colony from scratch. Hence the double identity that still divides scholars — Euboia, subcolony of Leontinoi, or a settlement under the rule of Gela, though closely tied to the Chalcidian world either way. The end was violent: the centre was almost certainly destroyed on purpose, and one theory links its fall to Hippocrates' advance toward the Ionian coast, the campaign that won him Naxos, Callipoli, Leontinoi, Zancle and Katane.
Our editors' tip
San Mauro is one of the southern districts of Caltagirone that opens onto a view of the Gulf of Gela, so allow a few minutes for the horizon as well as the stones. This is a countryside site, far from the old town and its famous staircase, and it rewards visitors who come for what it is — the memory of a frontier where Greeks and Sicels shared a single hilltop, not an urban monument to tick off.