Biancavilla

Biancavilla () is a town and in the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It is located between the towns of Adrano and S. Maria di Licodia, northwest of Catania. The town was founded and historically inhabited by the Arbëreshë community.

== History == The territory of Biancavilla has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic era, primarily due to the abundance of natural springs and lava caves in the area. Evidence suggests the presence of the Sicani people first, followed by the Siculi. Archaeological finds, including a significant necropolis with oval pit tombs surrounded by dry-stone walls, are preserved in the civic museum of Adrano. The modern town of Biancavilla was officially founded on 8 January 1488. Following the death of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg and the subsequent Turkish invasion, many Albanian families fled their homeland. A group of these refugees, led by Captain Cesare Masi, arrived in an area known as Callicari or Pojo Rosso in the territory of Adrano. The Albanian founders of Biancavilla, carried a Byzantine painting of the Virgin Mary with the Child La Madonna dell'Elemosina during their journey. When they stopped to rest at the site of the future town, they hung the sacred painting on a large tree. The next morning, when they tried to retrieve the image to move on, they found the painting had become miraculously stuck and immovable in the tree's trunk. Interpreting this as a divine sign, the refugees understood that the Virgin Mary had chosen this specific spot for them to build their new settlement and their church. They settled there and built the Basilica of Santa Maria dell'Elemosina around the location of the miracle. They received the "Licentia Populandi" a privilege to settle from Gian Tommaso Moncada, Count of Adernò the future Adrano. This permission allowed the Albanian community to establish their settlement. Biancavilla was relatively spared from significant damage during the catastrophic 1669 Etna eruption and the devastating 1693 earthquake, which destroyed much of the Val di Noto. This resilience led many residents from nearby, destroyed towns to seek refuge in Biancavilla.