Caltagirone is a town and comune in the province of Catania, on the island (and region) of Sicily, about 70 km SW of Catania. The city has been long famous for the production of pottery and terra-cotta wares. Nowadays the production is more and more oriented to artistic production of ceramics and terra-cotta sculptures. Other activities are mainly related to agriculture (production of grapes, olives, peaches).

The city's name derives from the Arabic qal'at-al-ganom ("Castle of the Genies"). It was inhabited since pre-historical times, as attested by the presence of two necropolis dating from the 2nd millennium BCE and by numerous other archaeological findings.

The city was almost completely destroyed by the severe earthquake of 1693. Many public and private buildings have then been reconstructed in Baroque style. Primarily for this reason, the city has been inserted, together with the surrounding territory in an area protected by the UNESCO World Heritage program. (from Wikipedia Lexikon)