{"id":68396,"date":"2015-04-29T10:56:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T09:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/?p=68396"},"modified":"2026-10-14T08:31:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T07:31:36","slug":"leonforte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/en\/leonforte","title":{"rendered":"Leonforte"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the Heraean Mountains<\/strong>, about 20 kilometres north-east of Enna, lie two pretty Sicilian villages a few kilometres apart: Leonforte<\/strong>, founded in the 17th century by the Branciforte family, and Assoro<\/strong>, of ancient origin, both of which were also medieval fortresses. The first has nearly 15,000 inhabitants, the second, smaller, 5,000.<\/p>\n

Leonforte and its territory<\/h2>\n

The small town of Leonforte lies between 600 and 700 metres above sea level, 22 km from Enna. In Arab times, its territory marked the junction of the three great administrative divisions of Sicily with the three great valleys.<\/p>\n

It was founded at the beginning of the 17th century, when Niccol\u00f2 Placido Branciforte obtained in 1610 the licentia populandi authorising the creation of a new town on the lands of the old fortress of Tavi. It was elevated to the rank of principality in 1622, allowing it major urban investments.
The Branciforte family structured the town with an organised layout, built the Palazzo Branciforti, several churches and the Granfonte, which became the social and hydraulic centre of the territory.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Leonforte developed around agriculture, water mills and craft activities.<\/p>\n\n\n