Sant'Ippolito (hill)
The hill of Sant'Ippolito, known by the name of “Colle del Bersaglio”, is a hill located in the Italian town of Caltagirone, in Sicily. It is made of gypsum, it is about 400 m high, and rises from the valley that is formed by the course of the river Caltagirone. Paolo Orsi made a series of excavations here and in 1928 he gained the first important results, discovering archeological finds belonging to the Neolithic and the Copper Age. Along the slope of the valley traces of life have been found; traces of an ancient civilization lived there until the 7th century BC. That is before the arriving of the Greeks, who founded, in that place, a reign including the current territory of Caltagirone with its archeological areas where some pointed ceramic fragments should have been found. Ancient village and necropolis An ancient village was discovered on the lowest part of the slope, in the east side of the hill. A necropolis, with about 20 tombs called “a forno”, dug on the slope opposite the village, was also found. The necropolis was opposite the little river that flowed through the terrace where the liuts were built, and it dates back to