Lake di Pergusa and Cozzo Matrice
Among the many protected areas in the territory around Enna, the Special Nature Reserve of Lake Pergusa is closely linked to the legend of Demeter: according to the ancient Greeks and Romans, the king of the Underworld, Hades, abducted the young goddess Kore near the shores of the lake. The lake was considered the cradle of the most important myth in the ancient Mediterranean, from which the cycle of the seasons is said to have originated.
A curious phenomenon is the reddening of the water, which is infrequent today, caused by the proliferation of sulphur bacteria that give the lake a unique pinkish-violet colour. At the nearby archaeological site of Cozzo Matrice that has been inhabited since the Copper Age, the remains of a fortified settlement from the Greek period (6th-5th century BC) can be seen, to which the monumental necropolis with chamber tombs excavated in the rock can be attributed.
Rocca di Cerere, Castle of Lombardia (Viale Nino Savarese) and Interdisciplinary Museum in Palazzo Varisano (PiazzaMazzini)
The cliff known as Rocca di Cerere and the area of the Castle of Lombardia, which together make up a large urban
archaeological park, correspond to the most impregnable and best defended part of the ancient citadel of Enna,
dominated by a large area for worship consecrated to Demeter, the goddess of the harvests, called Ceres by the
Romans. Little remains today of the ancient classical vestiges, also described by Cicero: the medieval Castle of Lombardia towers over an extraordinarily beautiful landscape, and is one of the largest fortresses in Italy.
In the nearby interdisciplinary museum of Palazzo Varisano, which faces the Duomo, visitors can admire numerous archaeological finds that tell the thousand-year history of Enna and its surroundings from prehistory to the Middle Ages.
Multimedia Museo of the Myth
(Viale Nino Savarese)
The recently inaugurated Multimedia Museum of the Myth recounts the famous mythological episode of the abduction of Persephone/Proserpine by Hades Pluto using technology, entrusted to the narration of the actor Neri Marcorè. Located in the urban archaeological area of Enna, not far from the monumental cathedral where the Madonna of the Visitation is venerated, it is a clear legacy of the pagan goddess. The Multimedia Museum of the Myth reminds us that one can die and be reborn many times!
Duomo
(Piazza Duomo, 1)
The Duomo, or Cathedral, is a UNESCO national monument and ‘monument of peace’. Enna’s most majestic church was consecrated to Maria SS. della Visitazione, the patron saint solemnly celebrated on 2 July. There are many references to the worship of Ceres: a local tradition has it that the church, erected in the early 14th century at the behest of Queen Eleanor of Anjou, was built on the foundations of a pagan building dedicated to the goddess of the harvest.
Belvedere Fountain
(Piazza Francesco Crispi, 9)
The most grandiose reminder of the legendary abduction of Kore in the area of Enna’s historic centre is the bronze sculptural group, a replica of the famous marble Rape of Proserpine by the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, which triumphs over the fountain of the belvedere named after Guglielmo Marconi in the city’s most beautiful vantage point. The fountain was designed by architect Vincenzo Nicoletti Guarnaccia of Palermo and inaugurated in 1935 to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty King Victor Emmanuel III.