1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Caltagirone

CALTAGIRONE, a city and episcopal see of the province of Catania, Sicily, situated 1999 ft. above sea-level, 36 m. S.W. of Catania direct (55 m. by rail). Pop. (1881) 25,978; (1901) town 35,116; commune 45,956. It is well built, and is said to be the most civilized provincial town in Sicily. Extensive Sicel cemeteries have been explored to the north of the town (Not. Scavi, 1904, 65), and a Greek necropolis of the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. has been found to the south-east (ibid. 132). Remains of buildings of Roman date have also been discovered; but the name of the ancient city which stood here is unknown. The present name is a corruption of the Saracen Kalat-al-Girche (the castle of Girche, the chieftain who fortified it).