THE HISTORY
An ancient monostery, between the Simeto and Etna, rich in history and charm
Welcome to our home, the place we hope will lead you to discover the essence of Sicily
During Roman rule, several bridges were built along the course of the river Simeto, from Maniace to Catania, to join the two banks of the river for the passage of soldiers and caravans of pack animals laden with grain.
In the course of the barbarian dominations, they were, almost in their entirety, destroyed due to lack of maintenance.
Given the torrential regime of the Simeto, in lean periods it was easy to find fords or passes, but in periods of flood one either did not cross or risked being swept away by the current. With the flourishing of agriculture and trade in the Arab era, rafts or boats known as ‘giarrette’ began to be used. They were placed at the mouth of the busiest roads on either side of the river to allow the ferrying of people, animals and goods. These were secured to the two banks of the river by large elbows called ‘libani’ that served as guides and handholds through the eddies of the current.
On the eastern bank of the river, there was a kind of slipway with a large haystack where the berchers and tools were kept: logs, planks, ropes and pitch for the boats. These were owned by the sovereign or the nobleman who had received them with the feud; they were managed in gabellato for periods varying from 3 to 6 years. The ‘gabellato’ paid the feudal lord or one of his vassals an annual fee in money or provisions and, in turn, had recourse to the ferrymen, collecting special ‘iuras’ or rights of passage from massari, shepherds, etc.
There were three best-known giarrette: the one in Adornò or Mandarano, the one in Paternò or della Poira, and the one in Catania not far from the mouth of the Simeto.
The Giarretta of Adernò is mentioned in letters from Count Francesco Moncada dated 27-08-1564. This contract states that, according to the count’s instructions, the proceeds of the boat were to be received annually by the procurators of the Chiesa Matrice to be spent on the purchase of wax, oil, etc. From 1564 to 1636, the Matrice gabellised the boat, receiving an annual fee of 10 onze from the gabellati, who demanded the following rights for their services: from the burghers who farmed, four tumuli of wheat per day of ploughing; from the shepherds, one cantaro of cheese per iazzo as well as kid, ciavarelli and ricotta.
This heavy burden weighed down on them for many years and there were often complaints from farmers and shepherds who did not want to pay such high fees. In their turn, the procurators of the Matrice complained about the meagreness of the boat’s fruit, which yielded less than what was needed for repairs, so they granted a baron the right to keep the boat in the river on his behalf with a deed dated 27-05-1718, in the same way that the Matrice had kept it for centuries, and all for an annual fee of 10 onze to pay for which, the baron placed a mortgage on all his property. Shelters and the rebuilding of the boat in case of shipwreck were all the responsibility of the concessionaire.
Tenuta Giarretta was also a point of reference for the neighbouring farms, so much so that there was, and still is, a chapel where religious rites were performed by the monks who lived inside the ‘monastery’, as demonstrated by the holy water stoup still present in one room. where on the upper floors they slept in cells of which we have preserved the dimensions and in one in particular even the original floor of the time. Outside, the well from which they drew water for daily life and the lava stone wash-house are still visible and in their original state. On hot August days mixed with the scents of the Sicilian countryside, one can still smell the incense wafting through the air from the burning of tiny simetite beans burned in religious silence by the monks before celebrating holy mass.