Archaeological Area Leontinoi

According to experts Leontinoi is one of the oldest Greek colonies in Sicily. Founded in 729 BC. by Chalcidian settlers who founded Naxos, little is known of the early history of the colony.

Formerly the Chalcidian settled on the hill San Mauro and only subsequently the colony also expanded on  the hill Metapiccola and along the valley of S. Mauro. Leontinoi presented a complex defensive system: on the north and on the south were two gates connecting the colony with Syracuse and that gave access to the fields of Lentini. Another defensive line was then formed by an internal wall erected on the top side of the hill of St. Mauro.

Today, excavations have unearthed the remains of the south gate, fortifications of St. Mauro’s hill, the prehistoric village of Metapiccola hill (where were found the remains of an ancient temple), pyramidal tombs and frescoes of the Byzantine era, found in St. Mauro’s cave.

Many of the archaeological findings discovered during the excavations are shown in the Archaeological Museum of Lentini.