Enna, 16 December 2025
The Roman-times rural settlement discovered in Cuticchi, in the municipality of Assoro, and brought to light during works on the new Palermo-Catania-Messina route - one of the ten strategic projects being implemented by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, under Italferr’s technical direction (both companies belonging to FS Group), was was illustrated today during a press conference at the Church of San Michele Arcangelo.
Maurizio Di Pietro, Mayor of Enna; Antonio Licciardo, Mayor of Assoro; Carmelo Nicotra, Director of the Morgantina and Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina Park; Maria Carolina Ippolito, Prefect of Enna; Francesco Colaianni, Regional Councillor for Energy, Mario La Rocca Director General of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity; Angelo Di Franco, Superintendent of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Enna; Filippo Palazzo, Government Commissioner for the new Palermo-Catania-Messina railway link; Maurizio Infantino, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana Investment Department, and Francesca Frandi and Salvatore Vanadia, Italferr Management and Design, were present at the conference.
As part of the works conducted along the Palermo-Catania railway line, Italferr carried out an intensive preventive archaeology programme. From 2020 to 2025, the activities included over 250 archaeological assays and the application of advanced methods, such as geophysical prospecting, drone surveys and 3D reconstructions. The archaeological site of Cuticchi (Enna), identified during the investigations on Lot 5 Dittaino-Catenanuova, is one of the most significant discoveries. This Roman-time large settlement is characterised by articulated structures, activity areas, and a vast necropolis with approximately 170 burials, including some monumental tombs. Research has shown that 2000 years ago an organised and stable community with a structured economy and a strong territorial identity was already settled here. More than 38,000 square metres of extensive excavation works and over 25,000 square metres of geophysical prospecting were carried out to reconstruct in detail the site’s organisation and enhance the findings emerged through the use of innovative technologies.
Lot 5 Dittaino - Catenanuova, worth more than EUR 613 million, is set to house the new Catenanuova station and a prevalently uncovered 23 km route, save for three tunnels (Libertinia, San Filippo and Salvatore), all less than one kilometre long, built according to traditional excavation methods.
During the day, a temporary exhibit showcasing a special selection of artefacts from Contrada Cuticchi (Assoro) was inaugurated at the Archaeological Museum of Palazzo Varisano, which will be open until 15 June.
The results of the preventive archaeology investigations, the value of the findings and the technical and methodological efforts through which the site had been documented before beginning the works, were also illustrated during the conference “Cuticchi. Un insediamento rurale di età alto-imperiale nella Valle del Dittaino” (Cuticchi, a rural settlement dating back to the first Imperial Period in the Dittaino Valley), held at the Conference Hall of the Enna Superintendency.
FS Group has given an unprecedented cultural heritage back to the citizens, fuelling a virtuous dialogue between modern infrastructure and the enhancement of historical roots. Indeed, the Group is constantly engaged in the adoption of preventive archaeology practices, to ensure that the construction of new railway lines takes is performed in a sustainable way, without compromising the historical heritage of any territories crossed nor interfering with construction times.