La Chiesetta

The little church, processional destination on November 3rd of each year, it is a legendary place: in 1928, in fact, a sudden and violent eruption risked destroying the "malazzeni" farm forever. The lava, which flowed quickly through the woods of the "Giarrita", threatened both the fief and the nearby inhabited area of Sant 'Alfio, which seemed destined to be completely submerged. Faced with the impending catastrophe, at dawn on November 3rd of that year, the population carried the sacred relics of the patron saints of the place Alfio, Filadelfio and Cirino from the Mother Church of the town of Sant'Alfio to the last bastion of faith: the little church of the "malazzeni", challenging the lava flow that was approaching threatening, thanks to the protection of the three saints.

The miracle was shouted when the procession arrived in front of the church of the feud: the prayers of the faithful, the grace of the Saint or the grace of the volcano, they performed the miracle of nature stopping the flow - which can be seen now petrified forever right of the corporate entrance gate - then opening some vents about 600 meters to the north of the farmhouse, from which flowed other devastating flows that destroyed the town of Mascali.

In 1958, in memory of the narrow escape, the today's church of Magazzeni was built outside the bottom.

La Storia

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the family came to own 48 different fiefdoms with mere and mixed imperio, (therefore with the power to lay down laws in their fiefdom) and, in the course of its history, it obtained 170 principal fiefs, having the right to six seats hereditary in the Sicilian parliament, more than any other family in Naples or Sicily.

At the time of the abolition of feudalism, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the family owned 80,000 hectares of land and five hereditary seats in the Parliament, eleven between cities and land in vassalage with about 20,000 subjects, twenty-six feuds. Among these fiefs, that of the cerrita (or "Giarrita"), so called because of the vast oak forests it incorporated, was extended over 2500 hectares; in it three areas could be identified, distinguished by their altitude: in the lower part there was the first nucleus of the village of Sant’Alfio, at first little more than a parish but over time grew up to invoke autonomy from the feudal lords; the upper section, on the other hand, contained the immense Cerrita wood, rich in valuable trees that, since the Middle Ages, had been the object of great exploitation to build the naval fleets of the many rulers of Sicily. A long paved road led from the sea, where the shipyards were, to the fiefdom, ending 200 meters east of our farmhouse, near the big fir tree; on it oxen and mules dragged the great trunks of chestnut and oak, the backbone of warships of many naval powers, from 1100 to two centuries ago.

In the middle part of the feud, between 850 and 1200 meters above sea level, the Marquises of Tuscany, driven by the pressures of the inhabitants of the town led by some tenacious parish priests, consented to a division of the land into self-sufficient farms, which ended up colonizing all this part cultivable of the feud. With enormous efforts, massari and peasants cultivated the rugged volcanic lands and built dozens of small hamlets, each year paying a tenth of the harvest to the feudal lords. The productions were stowed in the fiefdom deposits, placed next to the Marquis farmhouse, in dialect called "malazzeni", today magazzeni, hence the name of the district. Wheat, rye, hazelnuts, wine, oil, were piled up and then resold or taken to the catanesi dispensaries of the feudal lords. The main part of the house was built, perhaps on pre-existing nuclei, in the second half of the '700; the building consists of a small private church and some inhabited areas, one of which is reserved for the "Knight" when he came to inspect the feud. In that era of illustrious travelers and brigands, the farmhouse was a sure refuge and was one of the last comfortable bases before climbing up the paths that led up to the top of the volcano; it is not difficult to imagine for the ancient way of the "troll", the transit of famous travelers, who could not miss one of the most important stages of the "grand tour" of Sicily, Etna. Among these, also Jean Houel, who immortalized the majestic one hundred horse chestnut in a famous watercolor, now kept at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. In 1855, a millstone was added to the farmhouse and a large part of the estate was cultivated as a vineyard. In the last decades of the 800s and until the second post-war period, the estate saw as owner the famous knight Antonino Paternò Castello (1852-1914), who was mayor of Catania, deputy, twice foreign minister and Italian ambassador in London and Paris, with fundamental roles in the most important international diplomatic situations; to him is dedicated the road that crosses the company reaching the sanctuary.

Later, progressively abandoned the vine, in the 50s of the last century the crops were reconverted to hazel by the Engineer ... Priolo, related to the heirs of the feudal lords, who took care of the company, to which he was very attached, up to his death. People lived in the fief houses all year round; massari, peasants, "crews" of diggers, harvesters and hazelnut pickers, have spent their life or the most salient moments of peasant activities in the shade of the great chestnut trees that shade the courtyard of the farmhouse, drawing water from the large cistern, which was the most important water reservoir in the area, a true point of reference for all travelers, shepherds and the inhabitants of the small farms that dotted the forest. In 1928, a sudden and violent eruption risked destroying the "malazzeni" farm forever; the lava, which flowed quickly through the woods of the "giarrita", threatened both the fief and the nearby inhabited area of ​​Sant 'Alfio, which in a few days would have reached. Miraculously, Etna, on the night of ......., stopped the flow - which you can now see petrified forever on the right of the entrance gate - then opening some vents about 600 meters north of the house, from which flowed other devastating flows that destroyed the town of Mascali, reaching almost the sea in just a few days.

We like to think that it was precisely the spontaneous procession undertaken by the Santalfi people at dawn on November 3, 1928, to stop Etna and perform the miracle; at dawn, the people of Sant’Alfio carried in procession the relics of the Saint kept in the mother church up to the last bastion of faith placed at the top of the volcano, the church of the “malazzeni”. In front of the small church of the fief, the prayers of the faithful, the grace of the Saint or the grace of the volcano, they performed the miracle of nature that saved the fiefdom and village, deviating however the destructive fury towards other less fortunate districts.