 Later in the 12th–14th centuries, the two names were combined and citizens joined in devotion and worship of Sant'Anastasia, patroness of the town.Motta, since as early as the 4th century BC, has held a role of considerable importance as a stronghold of warning and defence.This role grew in the Middle Ages, during the Norman period, when Roger of Hauteville built a tower, in basalt stone, to guard the entrance of the plain of Catania and protect the area from Saracen incursions.