The patron saint of Pettineo is Saint Oliva, celebrated on 5 May in the church dedicated to her, one of the many churches that arose in the town over the centuries alongside the Matrice, San Luca, San Marco and many others.
The town was founded by the Normans, who built there the fortified keep of Migaido: in the 13th century King Manfred of Sicily granted the borgo, then called Pectineum, to Manfredi Maletta, chamberlain of the kingdom. The Migaido stronghold, built on a small hill to control the roads and defend the border of the County of Geraci, is a rare still-living example of rural incastellamento: in the 15th century it sheltered exiles from Negroponte, the Venetian island that had fallen to the Ottoman conquest, who there claimed release from feudal labour obligations. The town also preserves the Torre di Pettineo, a massive 13-metre cylindrical tower of Norman origin, flanked by the small chapel of Sant'Antonino that today gives the tower its name.
