The Origins
Memories of Hippana: In search of lost traces.
Prizzi is a municipality in the province of Palermo, located at an altitude of 1,045 metres in the heart of western Sicily. Its origins date back to the survivors of the Sican city of Hippana, which prospered until the conquest by the Romans during the First Punic War (258 B.C.), when the settlement was abandoned, as evidenced by the absence of findings dating to later periods.
Hippana
"Montagna dei Cavalli"
The area of the “Montagna dei Cavalli” (Hippana) is of great historical and cultural importance, located in the massif of the Monti Sicani, along the valley of the Sosio river. This irregularly triangular limestone relief, which takes its name from the Greek word ἱππο (hippo = horse), is one of the most fascinating archaeological centres in central-western Sicily. Researches, carried out by the Superintendency of Palermo, brought to light limited areas of the ancient settlement and structures dating back to early Hellenistic period (4th-3rd cent. B.C.), which can be identified with the city of Hippana. In particular, in 2007, a theatre, a strategic building situated near the top of the mountain, immediately outside the fortifications of the acropolis, whose presence had long only been assumed, was discovered.
During the excavations, the orchestra and the cavea were revealed; this last one, made of limestone, was divided in six sectors and could host around 3,000 spectators. The theatre, built in the second half of 4th cent. B.C., was the oldest example of Greek theatre ever known in Sicily and in Magna Graecia still today, and bears witness to the evolution of theatrical structures of the time.
Points of Interest
Hippana tells its story.
Among other points of interest and evidence of Prizzi’s past, noteworthy are the works of Gagini school preserved in the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate such as the sculptural group of the “Madonna and Child,” or the statue of St. Michael the Archangel in the Mother Church and the marble stoup in the Church of St. Sebastian and the Watchtower.
The latter originated fot facing Saracen raids. Prizzi was fortified with city walls and watchtowers. The name Prizzi itself is said to derive from the ancient Greek word pyrizein, meaning ‘to light fires’, precisely to defend themselves against attacks.
After the Norman conquest, the towers of Arab construction were used as bell towers; the oldest one, still visible today, was restored in 2013 and made visitable on the occasion of the Living Crib.
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