Leonforte, a Peculiar “new town” in Sicily. The Granfonte District: Documentary Sources and Analysis of structures

Abstract

This research illustrates some results of an interdisciplinary study on Leonforte (in today’s province of Enna), a city founded by Niccolò Placido Branciforti following authorisation obtained from the Spanish Crown, in 1610. The town, still unchanged in its original layout, rises on the slopes of Mount Cernigliere with a dual configuration of the urban layout: downstream, the older Granfonte district, characterised by little houses on a slope; upstream, the upper town, located on a plateau with a gentler slope and characterised by an orthogonal layout of the road network.

By cross-referencing data from documentary sources (memorials, notarial deeds, contracts, riveli di beni e anime, etc. – anagraphic and property documentation) with the results of a building survey, this contribution focuses on the peasant houses of Granfonte, being the first part of the town on which the founder’s efforts were concentrated. It was thus possible to explain the site selection, the relationship with the existing road network, possible pre-existences and orographic constraints, the connection between technical choices and the resources available in the area at the beginning of the 17th century, recognising a system of values to a historical settlement that is now undergoing a phenomenon of abandonment.