Grammichele

Grammichele is a town in the Province of Catania, set in the sunny Catania plain and linked to the slopes of the Iblei Mountains. Its identity is immediately unusual: this is not a town that grew by chance, but a planned settlement with a precise hexagonal design, centred on a large geometric space from which six streets radiate outward.

The town was founded after the 1693 Val di Noto earthquake destroyed the medieval settlement of Occhiolà. Prince Carlo Maria Carafa Branciforte established the new community on the nearby fief of Grammicieli, giving Grammichele both its name and its defining role as a post-earthquake “ideal city”. Its layout reflects the late 17th-century effort to rebuild with order, proportion and greater safety.

Today, Grammichele’s character lies in this meeting of rational urban planning and deep local memory. Its geometric centre, ties to sacred art and religious tradition, and connection with the lost town of Occhiolà make it one of Sicily’s most distinctive examples of reconstruction after the great earthquake.