CALTAGIRONE, DIOCESE OF. - A city in eastern Sicily. The Saracens called it *Qal'at al-girân*, meaning "Castle of the Caves."
The diocese covers an area of 2,000 square kilometers; it has 38 parishes with 120 diocesan priests and 31 regular clergy; the population is 151,600, of whom 151,100 are Catholic (1948).
The ancient name of the place is unknown, but around the present city there are remains of a Siculo-Greek city to the west, Greek necropolises to the south, and Sicilian ones to the east. Archaeological material has been found especially in the areas of Vallata del Signore, Cotomino, Cotominello, and Racimeri; a Byzantine castle has been identified 20 km to the east at Piano dei Casazzi. Occupied by the Saracens in the 9th century, it came under Norman control by the end of the 11th century; however, even of the medieval city only a few portals in the churches remain, as the city was devastated by earthquakes in 1542 and 1693.
Both the church of St. James and that of St. Frances date from the 18th century, as does the basilica of St. Mary of Jesus outside the city, with its brilliant local maiolica art. Caltagirone was erected as a diocese only on 12 September 1818 as a suffragan of Monreale and from 1844 of Syracuse; the first bishop was Msgr. Gaetano Trigona (1818–1832), later a cardinal (1834). The cathedral, dedicated to St. Julian, had already been elevated to a collegiate church by Urban VIII in 1631.