The patron saint of Misterbianco is Saint Anthony the Abbot, celebrated three times a year: on 16 and 17 January, on 12 December and, every three years, with the main feast on the first Sunday of August, called in dialect «a festa ranni» (the great feast), listed in the Register of Intangible Heritage of the Sicilian Region.
The 1669 eruption of Etna buried the old town of Misterbianco under lava along with its monastery: the inhabitants obtained authorisation to found a new town at the site of Contrada Milicia, whose land was purchased on 24 November 1670 for 501 onze, 12 tarì and 10 grana. Of the buried settlement, the archaeological site of Campanarazzu, the Roman baths and the church of the Madonna degli Ammalati are still visible today; the original building of that church, having survived the lava, later collapsed in the 1693 Val di Noto earthquake — only the north wall was saved, with the fresco of Maria Santissima degli Ammalati.
