Novara di Sicilia is a small historic hill village in Sicily, set at about 650 metres in a valley where the Peloritani and Nebrodi mountains meet. Surrounded by green mountain country and watched over by rocky heights to the south, it has the compact, stone-built character of a rural borgo, with a historic centre shaped by narrow lanes, stairways, arches and decorated stonework.
Its identity is unusually layered. The village is linked in the sources to Greek origins and later Roman and Arab phases; under Arab rule it was known as Nouah, a name associated with the idea of a garden, vegetable garden or flower. After the Norman conquest, Lombard settlers arrived following King Roger, helping explain the survival of Gallo-Italic speech, one of Novara’s most distinctive cultural traits.
Rather than feeling like a generic mountain village, Novara di Sicilia is defined by this meeting of landscape, language and historical memory. Arab, Norman, Lombard, Cistercian and later feudal influences remain part of its wider identity, while the stone fabric of the village gives that history a clear physical presence.
Patron Saint:
Maria SS. Assunta – 15 e 16 August
Nearest Airport:
Catania (Fontanarossa) – (122 km, 01:46)
Neighboring Cities:
Fondachelli Fantina, Francavilla di Sicilia, Mazzarrà Sant’Andrea, Rodì Milici, Tripi
