CALTAGIRONE  , a

city and episcopal see of the province of Catania, Sicily, situated 1999 ft. above sea-level, 36 m . S.W. of Catania direct (55 M. by rail) . Pop . (1881) 25,978; (1901) town 35,116; commune 45,956 . It is well built, and is said to be the most civilized provincial town in Sicily . Extensive Sicel cemeteries have been explored to the north of the town (Not . Scavi, 1904, 65), and a Greek necropolis of the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. has been found to the south-east (ibid . 132) . Remains of buildings of Roman date have also been discovered; but the name of the ancient city which stood here is unknown . The present name is a corruption of the Saracen Kalat-al-Girche (the castle of Girche, the chieftain who fortified it) .