Limina

 Limina is a pleasant hill village in the Agrò. Valley, with a long history going back to the time when the Romans and Carthaginians were vying to dominate the island.

Indeed, north of the territory in which the village was to come into being, in 260 BC there was a battle between the two rival and powerful city-states in the Mediterranean. Also, near here, in what is now the Passo Murazzo area, in 66 AD St. Philip the Syriac, who was going from Rome to Aira, founded a Christian community.

This was certainly a remote event, but one that left deep traces at Limina. Worship and veneration for St. Philip is now of very great importance to the inhabitants of Limina. The celebrations in his honour are characterised by a very ancient popular and religious tradition. Limina people emigrated to both the Americas, but they still proudly preserve devotion to the saint and regularly celebrate his feast day.

The first certain notices of the existence of the village of Limina (the name comes from the Latin limen, referring to the confine between the territories of Messina and Taormina, or from the Greek limn., with reference to marshes that were once there) date from 1095: the village is mentioned as a “village with the title of Marquisate” in the Lexicum Topographicum siculum by the Benedictine abbot Vito Amico.

During the Middle Ages, from Norman times on, Limina was a village that was not only well defended and self-sufficient, but also a political, commercial and religious centre of some importance. In ensuing centuries the economic importance of the place grew and this is demonstrated by the presence of a Jewish community that was very active in the field of silk trade and processing, as well as the presence of six mines, all active, which extracted coal, lead, silver and tin, and of a small foundry.

Today Limina is a place with a series of facilities that make a stay there pleasant. Squares and streets have been redone with quality stone, and in addition there is a five a side pitch, a tennis court (both with imitation grass), and a football pitch with natural grass where even third-division matches can be held.

Also, inside an old recently restored nineteenth-century building there is a modern and well equipped Multifunctional Centre with a conference room attached to it. Lastly, for the purpose of creating adequate accommodation but also restoring the historic area, buildings in the urban centre have been restructured and fitted out, making it possible for holidaymakers to spend an unforgettable holiday, at a reasonable price, between the sea of the Ionian Riviera and the Peloritani mountains, all accompanied by wellknown Limina hospitality.

POINT OF INTEREST

Passo Ranciara Gorge: The gorges are a rock formation of remarkable beauty. In the winter season the Agrò stream flows through them, crossing the territory of two communes: Limina and Casalvecchio Siculo. Here you can practice rafting or canyoning, a discipline that consists in going down watercourses with steep gradients. This activity allows you to know remarkable unspoiled places that are otherwise inaccessible.

San Sebastiano church: The church became a parish church in 1753. It was rebuilt in the thirties after the damage caused by the 1908 earthquake (it was reopened for worship on 13 August 1935). It contains a 1508 crucifix, an 1858 wooden statue of Maria del Carmine with St. Simon, the marble statue of the Annunciation (Gagini school); pictures of St. Sebastian and St. Anthony Abbot or St. Leonard done by A. Vasta in the 18th century, an 1860 picture of Our Lady of Prayer and a painting of St. Philip. 

Madonna delle Preci church: Built in 1396 on an old ninth-century synagogue, the church was closed for worship in 1935. It was restored in the 90s and reopened in August 2002. Inside you can see the different floors put in over the centuries, the niche for the Holy Oils, the basin font in the sacristy, the crypts for the burial of the notables of the time, and a wooden statue of Most Holy Mary of Prayer done by Gangemi in 1860.

San Filippo d'Agira

Fountain of the saint walking on water

Murals

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