San Giovanni La Punta

The commune of San Giovanni La Punta (20,000 inhabitants) lies at an altitude of 350 m.s.l. in a hilly zone on the slopes of Etna. The name San Giovanni was given to the town in honour of its patron saint. ‘La Punta’ was later added when a lava flow created a ‘point’ in one part of the town. Although the first historical information regarding the town is imprecise and very vague, nevertheless it is fairly certain that the area was first settled shortly after the year 1000.

The village of ‘Massa Trapea’, now Trappeto, and San Giovanni La Punta were composed of large rural estates. Later the two were merged under one name. In 1647 the town, like many others, was sold by Philip IV of Spain to raise money for the Spanish Court and the people of Catania were so indignant at the sale that they rioted in May of that year. Immediately after, the towns of San Giovanni La Punta and San Gregorio were bought by Giovanni Andrea Massa, Duke of Aci Castello remaining in the family until feudal rights were abolished. In line with the 1818 law regarding communes, San Giovanni La Punta became a commune and Trappeto became a quarter.
Over the last twenty years the town has become an important centre for commerce and is currently a focal point for the towns on Etna due to the large number of shops concentrated along viale della Regione, the two-kilometre-long main road.

Although it does not have an old town centre, San Giovanni La Punta does have some monuments that are worthy of note. The Mother Church, dedicated to San Giovanni Battista has a Baroque-style façade. It was built around 1410 and became the Parish Church in 1418. In the side chapel dedicated to San Giovanni Evangelista, created around 1758, there is a painting of the Saint which is believed to be by a Flemish artist. The lava stone external portal of the Brotherhood of the Sacrament (Confraternità del Sacramento) is stupendous.

At the point where San Giovanni La Punta borders the communes of Tremestieri Etneo and Sant’Agata Li Battiati, there is the church of the Ravanusa that preserves a picture of Maria Santissima Assunta called the ‘Ravanusa’. There are also a number of splendid mansions built around 1800 and Castle Carcaci which was the residence of the Princes of Paternò. In Trappeto, there is the Church of San Rocco, built between 1602 and 1605 by people who survived the plague that raged in the area between 1575 and 1578.

Courtesy of the Regional Province of Catania.