Caltagirone

Caltagirone is a historic hill town in the heart of Sicily’s Calatino area, set across three hills where the Erei and Iblei mountain systems meet. Its amphitheatrical position looks towards the plains of Catania and Gela, with areas of grey clay badlands around it, a landscape closely tied to the material that has long defined the city.

Its identity is inseparable from ceramics. The name is said to derive from the Arabic *qual’at al giarun*, interpreted as “hill of vases”, and Arab influence in the 9th century is linked to glazing techniques and decorative motifs that became part of its craft tradition. Earlier and later cultures also left their mark, from Sicels, Greeks and Romans to Byzantines, Normans and Angevins.

After the 1693 earthquake, Caltagirone was rebuilt with a strong late Baroque character and is now part of the UNESCO-recognised late Baroque towns of the Val di Noto. What makes it distinctive is the way clay and colour are woven into the city’s public image, turning Caltagirone into Sicily’s enduring city of ceramics.