Vizzini is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Catania, on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. It is located from Catania in the Hyblaean Mountains, on the most northwesterly slopes of Monte Lauro. The commune territory is bounded by the comuni of Buccheri, Francofonte, Giarratana, Licodia Eubea, Militello in Val di Catania, Mineo. History Bidis, a Roman city mentioned by Pliny and Cicero, stood here in a territory that has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The modern town developed in the Middle Ages around a now non-extant castle, as a fief of various lords, including the Chiaromontes and the Schittinos, although for many years it was also part of the royal domain. In 1358, Roland of Sicily reconquered the area from Vizzini to Avola. In 1415, the Jewish community of Vizzini was expelled by Queen Blanca, and was never permitted to return. On the 14th of July, 1943 the town of Vizzini was liberated from fascist forces by the British military. Specifically, by that time Vizzini was occupied by a small detachment of forces from Nazi Germany. Britain's XXX Corps under General Montgomery consisting largely of M4 Sherman Tanks easily overpowered the small group of German tanks that were present in the town. The town had been in the American occupational zone and this caused some confusion when British forces liberated the town first. Main sights The Arab layout of the town is evident seen passing from Via Verga to Via San Gregorio Magno and proceeding as far as Largo della Matrice, a square with a modern statue of St Gregory in the middle and the Chiesa Madre (mother church) of San Gregorio Magno at one side. The portal on the left flank of the church, in splendid 15th-century Gothic-Catalan style, probably derived from the old Town Hall, destroyed by the earthquake in 1693; in the interior there are late 18th century stuccos and a wooden ceiling by Natale Bonaiuto, as well as two paintings (The Martyrdom of St. Laurence and the Madonna delle Mercede) by Filippo Paladini (or Paladino), born in Florence about 1544. Another painting by Paladino, The Deposition (1607), is in the Chiesa del Convento dei Cappuccini. Nearby is the church of Sant'Agata, rebuilt in the 18th century on the site of a previous 15th-century building and houses a pipe organ created around 1770. The church of San Giovanni Battista was built in the